NBA legend Charles Barkley said he would punch black supporters of former President Donald Trump embracing his infamous Fulton County, Georgia mugshot.
Barkley's remark was in reference to the former president's recent assertion that black Americans embraced him after his mugshot was released last year.
“You know who embraced more than anybody else? The black population,” Trump said during last week's Black Conservative Federation gala in South Carolina. “It’s incredible. You see black people walking around with my mugshot – you know they do shirts.”
The NBA legend made his remark during a Tuesday broadcast of his CNN program, King Charles, with fellow host Gayle King.
“First of all, I’m just gonna say this: If I see a black person walking around with a Trump mugshot, I’m gonna punch him in the face,” the basketball star said.
King pushed back on Barkley's statement, insisting he wouldn't genuinely assault black Americans embracing Trump's mugshot.
"Oh, I mean that sincerely," Barkley shot back, to which King said he would be arrested for assault. "I'm gonna bail myself out and go celebrate," he responded.
Barkley said he would have "got up and walked out" of the Black Conservative Federation gala if he was in attendance.
“That was an insult to all black people," he said. "To compare black history, where we’ve been discriminated against, to his plight.”
“It’s not a fair comparison,” Barkley said, insisting Trump was in fact guilty of his alleged crimes. “He’s a billionaire, he’s had a great life, he’s been President of the United States. To insult black people who have been discriminated against all these years and put them in the same category, I was just offended.”
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a black American, defended Trump's comments during a recent appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press.
“These things are causes of major concerns for black voters like it is for every voter in our country,” Donalds said. “But then when you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political persecution from the Department of Justice and from radical DAs throughout our country, this is something similar that black people had to deal with the justice system themselves. And so, their look of it is real simple: ‘Well, dang, if the government’s going after him with foolishness, he can’t be that bad.’ Especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job.”
“They don’t want to see a two-tier system of justice,” Donalds added. “They want justice to be followed. They want Lady Justice to be blind. That’s what the American people want. That’s what black voters want. That’s what everybody wants.”
