Troubled boxer Ryan Garcia has offered his thoughts on the outcome of former US President Donald Trump's trial.
Trump was found guilty Thursday afternoon in a Manhattan courtroom of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Garcia, who has been photographed with the former president in the past, is a Trump supporter and tweeted that he would support Trump in the November general election.
“We have a new president,” Garcia tweeted. “He'll still win. Watch.” [USA flag emoji]'.
He continued, “Donald T., if you're reading this, we're on your side. Stay strong.”
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The post sparked reaction on social media, with many drawing comparisons between Trump's felony convictions and Garcia's multiple positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs during his recent bout with Devin Haney.
“Why do PED users support convicted criminals? [surprise] “LOL,” one user wrote.
Another said: “Cheaters love cheaters!”
The two tweets refer to the recent news that both of Garcia's drug test samples tested positive for the PED ostarine.
But this evening Mr Garcia's lawyers argued a new battery of tests had proved his innocence and that other samples may have been contaminated.
“Two supplement samples declared by Ryan Garcia on his VADA Doping Control Forms signed on April 19th and 20th tested positive for ostarine contamination,” the statement read.
“This confirms what we have maintained all along: Ryan is the victim of supplement contamination and has never knowingly used any banned or performance-enhancing substances. Any assertion to the contrary that questions the integrity of Ryan as a clean fighter is patently false and defamatory.”
“Ryan has voluntarily submitted to numerous tests throughout his career, all of which have returned negative results, underscoring his commitment to fair and clean competition.”
“Additionally, his multiple negative tests leading up to the Haney fight further support his clean record.”
“The extremely low levels of ostarine found in his samples – just a few parts per billion of a gram – and the clean hair samples prove that this was contamination rather than intentional ingestion.”
“Recent test results reaffirm this. A press conference will be held next week to provide further insight and answer questions. Details of the press conference will be announced in the coming days.”
Garcia has previously maintained his innocence, saying, “Everyone knows I did nothing wrong.”
He also suggested his support for Trump may have made him a target for increased scrutiny in testing.
“Ummm, I was spotted with Trump and I tested positive for steroids. This is a straight up attack. Crazy,” Garcia tweeted on May 1.
He also slammed the report on Instagram, calling the accusations “fake news making it seem like I'm Trump.”