CNN (and CBS) host Gayle King told outspoken basketball legend Charles Barkley she would bail him out if he made good on his vow to punch Black people he saw wearing Donald Trump mug shot shirts. King and Barkley were speaking on their CNN show ‘King Charles’ on Sunday night. King initially tried to talk Barkley out of his threat, but ended up saying she would bail him out.
Barkley made the threat to punch his fellow Black Americans for wearing Trump mug shot shirts in response to President Trump’s comments to the Black Conservative Federation’s annual Honors Gala held in Columbia, South Carolina on February 23rd in which he said Black people were walking around wearing Trump mug shot shirts. Trump’s remarks angered both Barkley and King.
Video clip excerpt posted by Awful Announcing with Barkley making his threat and explaining why he is upset with Trump’s comments:
"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
BARKLEY: First of all, I’m just going to say this. If I see a black person walking around with Trump mugs, I’m going to punch him in the face.
KING: Charles —
BARKLEY: I know, Gayle.
KING: Charles —
BARKLEY: Gayle, Gayle, Gayle —
KING: You really can’t say that because, A, you don’t mean that.
BARKLEY: Oh, I mean that sincerely. I’m going to just tell you something —
KING: And then you will be arrested for assault. And then, what?
BARKLEY: I’m going to bail myself out and go celebrate. If I —
BREAK
BARKLEY: What do you think when you hear it?
KING: Well, I just thought it was insulting. I thought it was insulting to people of color that to paint the black community with one brush, and you really can’t compare his indictment.
[20:10:00]
I thought — because he says — I know it’s so hard to verbalize it, because it made me so angry and I was so insulted by his words. Because he’s implying that because black people have criminal problems.
BARKLEY: That’s exactly right.
BREAK
KING: Yes. But if you see somebody, a black person with a Donald Trump —