Charles Barkley Says He'll 'Punch' Any Black Person Wearing Trump Mug Shot

Charles Barkley has issued a warning to Black people who decide to support Donald Trump just because he got arrested.

During Monday's broadcast of "King Charles," his CNN show with Gayle King, Barkley vowed to "punch" any Black person he sees wearing clothing with Trump's mug shot on it.

"If I see a Black person walking around with Trump's mug shot, I'm [gonna] punch him in the face," the basketball player-turned-television analyst said, as seen in a clip shared by a user on X, formerly Twitter.

When King responded that Barkley didn't "mean that," he replied, "I mean that sincerely."

Barkley joked that if he's arrested for assault, he'll "bail [himself] out and go celebrate."

Barkley was reacting to Trump's recent comments suggesting that his criminal indictments and mug shot appeal to Black voters and that they can relate to the alleged discrimination he faces in the legal system.

The NBA Hall of Famer described Trump's remarks as "an insult to all Black people" and slammed him for comparing his arrest to the centuries of discrimination Black people have experienced.

Trump has not yet publicly addressed Barkley's comments.

While speaking at the Black Conservative Federation's annual gala in South Carolina late last month, Trump claimed that Black people "like" him because he was "being discriminated against" in the justice system.

"I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing. They were doing it because it's election interference and then I got indicted a second time, and a third time and a fourth time. 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," Trump told the Black conservatives at the event, according to CNN.

The former president and current GOP presidential frontrunner suggested that he is getting support from Black voters because they understand how "corrupt systems" can lead to "some of the greatest evils" in U.S. history.

"I think that's why the Black people are so much on my side now because they see what's happening to me happens to them," Trump claimed.

According to Trump, Black Americans "embraced" his mug shot more than any other community.

"The mug shot, we've all seen the mug shot, and you know who embraced it more than anybody else? The Black population. It's incredible. You see Black people walking around with my mug shot, you know they do shirts," the billionaire claimed.

Trump faces 91 criminal charges in four criminal cases, including one related to his alleged hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and another related to his handling of classified materials.

The former president was also indicted by a federal grand jury on four federal criminal counts over his alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump was indicted for the fourth time in August 2023 by a Georgia jury on conspiracy charges of trying to steal the state's electoral votes from President Joe Biden.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all the cases.

In August last year, Trump was forced to pose for a mug shot when he surrendered to Georgia authorities following his felony charges.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office released Trump's booking photo at the time, causing him to become the only sitting or former U.S. president to have his mug shot taken.

According to The Wrap, T-shirts and merch featuring Trump's mug shot immediately surfaced on online stores and gained popularity, with some even selling out quickly.