Opinion
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley indicated he’d like to punch some black people who support Donald Trump in the face. Barkley was responding to comments made recently by the former President who suggested the black community embraced his infamous mugshot photo.
“When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1,” Trump said at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual Honors Gala. “You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The black population.”
“It’s incredible. Black people walking around with my mugshots!”
Trump received applause at the Black Conservative Federation event for his remarks. NBA analyst Charles Barkley though, didn’t appreciate the message.
And he unloaded.
“First of all, I’m just gonna say this: if I see a black person walking around with Trump’s mugshot, I’m [gonna] punch him in the face,” the original Dream Team member told CNN’s Gayle King.
King’s gentle reminder that he’d be facing assault charges was no deterrent for Barkley.
“I will bail myself out and go celebrate,” he quipped.
“If I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot, I’m gonna punch him in the face.” – Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/g8sbf4AEMy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 4, 2024
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There Is Some Truth To Trump’s Claim
Barkley continued his tirade toward Trump for the mugshot remarks.
“If I was at that conference I would have got up and walked out. That was an insult to all black people,” he insisted. “To compare black history, when we’ve been discriminated against, to his plight – first of all he’s a billionaire, and they’re prosecuting him for stuff he did wrong.”
Fortunately, those in attendance at the gala are not nearly as easily triggered as Charles Barkley apparently is. Additionally, there is an element of truth to what Trump said.
Craig Scott, a man freed from prison in 2019 by a criminal justice reform bill signed into law by Trump, said the Republican’s mugshot gives him more “street cred” with those who have dealt with the justice system.
In a Newsweek op-ed column Scott, who described himself as a ‘Black Robinhood’, argued “Trump’s repeated run-ins with the law, and what seems like an unfair obsession with catching him and punishing him disproportionately for his so-called ‘crimes,’ reminds a lot of us of what was done to us.”
“He’s literally been in my shoes. No other president can brag on that,” added Scott. “And believe me, he will brag about it.”
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