Charles Barkley Doubles Down On His Take About Black People Wearing Trump Merch, Calls Them 'Freaking Idiots'

Published|Updated

Charles Barkley made his opinion about black people who wear Donald Trump mugshot merch - also known as Trump supporters - abundantly clear over the weekend, saying that if he sees a black person wearing the merchandise "I'm gonna punch him in the face."

Barkley revealing that he suffers from Trump Degenerate Syndrome stemmed from a comment that the former President made in South Carolina last week. 

"When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1," Trump said. "You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The black population."

It's worth noting that Trump made these comments at the Black Conservative Federation Honors Gala, and the black people in attendance didn't take offense to them. In other words, they recognized Trump was making a joke.

The same can't be said for Barkley, he's taking Trump's comments seriously.

"He's had a great life. He's 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." Barkley added last week, "I was just offended."

During Wednesday's edition of ‘King Charles’ on CNN, Barkley began walking back his remark about punching Trump supporters in the face, but then went on to call them "freaking idiots."

"Obviously, I’m not going to 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 want to 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 because they won’t let me say what I really wanna say. But you can figure it out, it starts with an ’f.'"

Barkley's run of being one of the most beloved personalities in media by folks of all walks of life could be coming to an end after delving into the political world and not only alienating Trump supporters but more specifically, black Trump supporters.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.