Don Imus today seemed to endorse Mike Tyson's crude suggestion that Sarah Palin should have slept with Dennis Rodman instead of -- as alleged in a widely criticized new book -- Glen Rice. (Imus did say that he thought Tyson's “verbiage was a little rough.”)

Imus' comments were apparently too offensive for Fox Business Network, which appears to have dumped some of the audio in question from its broadcast of the show.

On today's Imus in the Morning, Imus and comedian Jay Mohr riffed on several Republican presidential candidates. When the conversation turned to Fox News contributor Sarah Palin, Mohr mentioned the claim in Joe McGinniss' controversial book that, in Mohr's words, Palin “had sex with that basketball player, in that scathing book, they said she had sex with Glen Rice.”

Imus responded by referencing an interview Mike Tyson did last month with ESPN Radio's Las Vegas affiliate, in which Tyson -- a convicted rapist -- referred to Palin in obscene and misogynistic terms. Imus said: “I did like -- I thought the verbiage was a little rough -- Mike Tyson, but, it should have been more, she'd have had more credibility, in my view, had it been, say, Dennis Rodman.”

Listen:

But viewers watching the broadcast on Fox Business did not hear five seconds of Imus' comments, which are bolded: “I did like -- I thought the verbiage was a little rough -- Mike Tyson, but, it should have been more, she'd have had more credibility, in my view, had it been, say, Dennis Rodman.”

Fox Business did not immediately return a request for comment.

Watch FBN's broadcast:

The radio podcast version of the interview posted on the WABC-AM website excises even more of the conversation, removing Imus' reference to Tyson entirely. (The WABC website and podcast did not make clear that the audio had been edited.)

Here are Tyson's repulsive comments -- which Imus said he “like[d]” but found “a little rough” -- as reported by The Daily Caller:

“Glen Rice is a wonderful man,” Tyson said. “He's a wonderful guy. You want her to be with somebody like [Dennis] Rodman getting up ... in there. Pushing her guts up in the back of her head!”

Tyson went on to say that Rice was too “non-threatening.”

“Glen Rice is a nice, mellow, docile man, non-threatening guy,” he said. “You want someone like Rodman -- yeah baby! Let's get that donkey in here now. [laughter] Just imagine Palin with a big old black stallion ripping. Yeehaw!”

Below is a transcript of the exchange (the portion that didn't appear on Fox Business is bolded):

IMUS: Who do you like?

MOHR: I like Huntsman.

IMUS: Why?

MOHR: I just think he's hot. The Mormons just make the most beautiful people in the world. Mitt Romney and Huntsman should run as one guy and have Sarah Palin as their VP.

IMUS: She's not going to run, though.

MOHR: And then every other country would just want to have sex with us. Sarah Palin screwing black people since the mid '90s.

[laughter]

MOHR: No?

IMUS: I don't know -- [laughter] -- I've got -- I guess.

MOHR: She had sex with that basketball player, in that scathing book, they said she had sex with Glen Rice.

IMUS: Well, OK, so --

MOHR: You know why?

IMUS: No.

MOHR: Mo Cheeks turned her down.

[laughter]

MOHR: How's my political material?

IMUS: I did like -- I thought the verbiage was a little rough -- Mike Tyson, but, it should have been more, she'd have had more credibility, in my view, had it been, say, Dennis Rodman.

[laughter]

MOHR: A guy that you know brought it -- You don't want any like bubble baths and candles, you want to know that it was --

IMUS: [laughter] Whatever.

MOHR: Just to get back at the husband.

IMUS: 22 till - [laughter]

MOHR: No, I like Huntsman. No, you know, his whole family is gorgeous.

IMUS: He looks like a mortician, so --

MOHR: Huntsman looks like a mortician?

IMUS: Yeah, no, he has no clue.