Charles Barkley Goes Off on Black People Wearing Trump Mugshot Merch: ‘You Are a Freakin’ Idiot’
Charles Barkley is not a fan of Donald Trump’s mugshot-related merchandise for sale on the former president’s campaign website, going so far as to say any Black person who dons the gear is “a freakin’ idiot.”
The basketball hall of famer went off at the beginning of Wednesday’s edition of King Charles on CNN, where he expounded upon remarks he made over the weekend.
Barkley’s co-host Gayle King noted that he made waves on Saturday when he declared, “If I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mugshot, I’m gonna punch him in the face.”
On Wednesday, Barkley cited comments by Trump in a speech to Black conservatives in which the ex-president claimed Black voters like him more since he was indicted four times.
“And then I got indicted a second time and then a third time and a fourth time!” Trump told the crowd. “And a lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as– I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing.”
Barkley blasted Trump and Black people who would wear merch featuring the former president’s mugshot that was taken when he was indicted in Georgia after he tried to overturn the state’s 2020 election results:
Number one, obviously, I’m not gonna go around punching random strangers in the face – first and foremost. Secondly, people can vote for who they want to. People can vote for who they want to.
The point I was trying to make, no, the point I was making, I wasn’t trying to make it – when Donald Trump compares his plight with that of the Black person, that is what I had a problem with.
Now, I do wanna say this. I want to make it perfectly clear… If you’re a Black person and you wearing a Donald Trump mugshot, you are a freaking idiot. And I’m only saying “Freakin’ idiot ’cause they won’t let me say what I really wanna say. But you can figure it out. It starts with an F.
Later, he reiterated his “freakin’ idiot” stance:
BARKLEY: I’ll stick by what I said. If you’re wearing a Trump mugshot around, you are a freakin’ idiot.
KING: But you aren’t gonna go just randomly attacking people in the street. That’s the only point I wanted to make.
BARKLEY: Unless they had Trump sneakers on too.
Barkley’s comment prompted laughter in the studio.
Watch above via CNN.
