Trump on protester: ‘I’d like to punch him in the face’

by Jesse Byrnes - 02/23/16 7:42 AM ET

"I'd like to punch him in the face." @realDonaldTrump sends strong message to protester at rally last night!https://t.co/hYBRl3llHz

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) February 23, 2016

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said during his final rally ahead of the Tuesday caucuses in Nevada that he wanted to punch a protester in the face.

“There’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches,” Trump said during his rally on Monday night in Las Vegas after a disruption in the audience. “We’re not allowed to punch back anymore.”

{mosads}”I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks,” Trump said, adding, “I’d like to punch him in the face.”

He also labeled the person “nasty as hell.” CNN reported that the man did not appear to be fighting with security officers escorting him out of the rally, despite Trump’s claim.

It was the latest bit of harsh rhetoric from the outspoken billionaire, whose campaign rallies have been marked by protests throughout his controversial White House bid.

A physical altercation broke out at a Trump event in November between a black protester and several white rally attendees. Afterward, Trump suggested the Black Lives Matter protester “should have been roughed up.”

Trump instructed security at a rally in January to take protesters’ coats and “throw them out into the cold.” At another event, a Muslim woman protesting the candidate was ejected after she stood up in silent protest.

Trump is battling rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in Tuesday’s caucuses in Nevada after a pair of wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina earlier this month.

Tags 2016 GOP primary 2016 Nevada caucus Donald Trump Marco Rubio Nevada Ted Cruz