Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he is looking into paying the legal fees for the man who allegedly sucker-punched a protester last week during a Trump rally.
“I’m going to look at it. I’m going to see, you know, what was behind this, because it was a strange event. But from what I heard, there was a lot of taunting and a certain finger was placed in the air. Not nice,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
{mosads}”I’ve actually instructed my people to look into it, yes,” he said.
As a protester was being escorted out of a North Carolina rally, a 78-year-old man allegedly punched the protester in the face. The man was arrested and charged the next day with assault and disorderly conduct.
Trump said Sunday he doesn’t accept responsibility for the incident, adding he doesn’t “condone violence in any shape.”
But he said he wants to see exactly what the protester was doing when he was walking out of the rally.
“Because he was very taunting. He was very loud, very disruptive,” Trump said.
“And from what I understand, he was sticking a certain finger up in the air. And that is a terrible thing to do in front of somebody that frankly wants to see America made great again. And so we’ll see. I’m going to take a look at it. But I want to see what that man was doing.”
Trump said the man who allegedly punched the protester “got carried away,” but added that “he obviously loves his country.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like seeing what’s happening to the country. I want to see the full tape,” he said.
“But I don’t condone violence.”