Source: KENA BETANCUR / Getty
UPDATE: 11/22/15, 3:30 p.m. ET
After inciting White supporters to attack a Black protester at a campaign rally in Birmingham, Ala. on Saturday, GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump said the man deserves to be attacked.
“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing,” Trump said on Fox News Sunday morning. “I have a lot of fans, and they were not happy about it. And this was a very obnoxious guy who was a trouble-maker who was looking to make trouble.”
This differs from the statement his campaign put out yesterday saying they did not “condone the behavior.”
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A Black protester at a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham, Ala. was allegedly assaulted after the GOP presidential hopeful ordered supporters to remove him from the event, according to CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond.
The man, who was allegedly wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt, was “shoved, tackled, kicked and punched” by vicious, white Trump supporters as security struggled to help the man to his feet.
A black protester at Trump’s rally today in Alabama was shoved, tackled, punched & kicked: https://t.co/Aq0wuaAtax pic.twitter.com/cTRDMtjuBl
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) November 21, 2015
Trump, who seems in his element in the gun-toting, Bible-thumping Deep South, can be heard on the video saying, “Get him the hell out of here,” as the cheers and jeers in the reckless crowd continue to escalate.
The man, who has not be identified, was allegedly saying “Black Lives Matter,” to which some in the White crowd screamed, “All Lives Matter.”
This is rich coming from a state where racial disparities are so stark and run so deep. Birmingham, Alabama is the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. That this incident happened here is peak irony — though not at all surprising.
According to CNN, Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks claims, “The campaign does not condone this behavior.”
We certainly can’t tell since The Donald is going around the country inciting it.
Trump has not issued a statement.
UPDATE: Trump Says Racist Supporters Were Right To ‘Rough Up’ Black Protester At Ala. Rally was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
