- Trump controversially claimed that his arrest in August appealed to black voters
- NBA legend Barkley has accused the former president of insulting black people
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
NBA legend Charles Barkley has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump after the former US president claimed his infamous police mugshot had been ’embraced’ by black voters in America.
On the eve of last week’s South Carolina primary, in which he easily overruled former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump sparked controversy by suggesting he would make more of an appeal to the black community following his recent arrest for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
“When I took the mugshot in Atlanta, that mugshot was No. 1,” he said at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual Honors Gala. “You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The black population.
‘It’s unbelievable. Black people are walking around with my mugshots!’
Despite receiving applause for those comments, an incensed Barkley has taken aim at Trump for insulting Black people, even threatening to punch any Black person who shows off his infamous mugshot.
NBA legend Charles Barkley has launched a scathing attack on former President Donald Trump
Trump sparked controversy by suggesting he is appealing more to the Black community following his recent arrest for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
During his CNN show, Barkley accused Trump of insulting black people while threatening to punch anyone who showed off his mugshot.
The 11-time NBA All-Star said on his and broadcaster Gayle King’s CNN Show: “First of all, I’m going to say this: If I see a black person walking around with Trump’s mugshot, I’m going to punch him in the face.”
King then interrupted to tell Barkley that he himself would be arrested for assault. He replied, “I’ll save myself and go celebrate.”
Barkley then continued, “If I had been at that conference, I would have gotten up and walked out.” That was an insult to all black people.
“To compare the black history, when we were discriminated against, to his fate: first of all, he’s a billionaire, and they’re prosecuting him for things he did wrong.
“Well, some things are true. They stormed the capital and said the elections had been stolen. Those aren’t lies, Gayle.
“But to compare it I would have gotten up and gone out because it’s not a fair comparison.
‘He’s a billionaire and has had a great life. He has been president of the United States. To insult black people who have been discriminated against all these years, to put them in the same category… I was just offended.”
Trump, who was cleared to run for president again on Monday after the Supreme Court unanimously banned states from excluding him from ballots, is expected to defeat his closest rival Haley in the battle to secure the Republican nomination.
Trump was cleared to run for president again on Monday after the Supreme Court unanimously barred states from barring him from voting
He will defeat his nearest rival Nikki Haley in the race to secure the Republican nomination
On the eve of Super Tuesday, as 15 states and one territory vote for who to run against Joe Biden in this year’s presidential election, the 77-year-old praised the Supreme Court’s reversal of his disqualification from voting in Colorado.
However, Trump also quickly turned his attention to another major case before the judges by publicly lobbying for presidential immunity from prosecution.
‘I have great respect for the Supreme Court. And I just want to thank them for working so quickly, so diligently and so brilliantly,” he said in Florida after the justices ruled in his favor by banning states from disqualifying candidates for federal office based on a constitutional provision on insurrection.
“And while we’re on this subject, another thing that will come up very soon is presidential immunity.”
The Supreme Court will hear in April Trump’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling rejecting his claim for immunity from prosecution in a criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith involving Trump’s actions intended to to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over him.
The court’s decision not to schedule oral arguments until the week of April 22 reduces the chance that a trial in the case brought by Smith could be completed before the election. The trial was scheduled to begin earlier this week.
