opinion
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has indicated that he would like to punch some black people who support Donald Trump in the face. Barkley was responding to recent comments made by the former president that suggested the black community had embraced his notorious image.
“When I took the picture in Atlanta, that was No. 1,” Trump said at the Black Conservative Union’s annual awards ceremony. “You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The black population.”
“It's unbelievable. Black people walking around with my pictures!”
RELATED: Charles Barkley hilariously destroys San Francisco during NBA All-Star Game over epidemic of 'homeless scammers'
Trump received applause at a Black Conservative Union event for his remarks. But NBA analyst Charles Barkley didn't appreciate the message.
And he unpacked it.
“First of all, I'll say this: If I see a black person walking around with a picture of Trump, it's me [gonna] Punch him in the face,” original Dream Team member Gayle King told CNN.
King's gentle reminder that he would face assault charges was no deterrent for Barkley.
“I'll save myself and go celebrate,” he joked.
“If I see a black person walking around with a picture of Trump, I will punch them in the face.” -Charles Barclay pic.twitter.com/g8sbf4AEMy
– Awful ad (@awfulanouncen) March 4, 2024
RELATED: Charles Barkley: If I Were Jimmy Kimmel I'd Punch Aaron Rodgers in the Face
There is some truth to Trump's claims
Barkley continued his tirade toward Trump over his comments.
“If I had been at that conference I would have gotten up and walked out. It was an insult to all black people,” he insisted. “To compare the history of black people, when we were discriminated against, to his plight – first of all, he is a billionaire, and they are prosecuting him for things he did wrong.”
Fortunately, party attendees are not as easily angered as Charles Barkley. Additionally, there is an element of truth in what Trump said.
Craig Scott, a man who was released from prison in 2019 under a criminal justice reform bill Trump signed into law, said the Republican's image gives him more “street cred” with those who have dealt with the justice system.
In an op-ed column for Newsweek, Scott, a self-described “Black Robin Hood,” argued that “Trump’s frequent brushes with the law, and what seems like an unfair obsession with catching and disproportionately punishing him for so-called crimes, remind many of us of what “It happened to us.”
“He was literally in my shoes. No other president can brag about that,” Scott added. “And believe me, he will.”
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