By threatening to punch people in the face, Charles Barkley signaled the most important demographic in the upcoming presidential election: Black voters.

Barkley, the NBA Hall of Famer who has since become “the round mound of profound,” was reacting to Donald Trump bragging about gaining popularity with Black voters based on his legal troubles, saying the proof was in T-shirts featuring a photo taken after he turned himself in to police in Georgia.

“It’s incredible,” Trump said at a South Carolina rally. “You see Black people walking around with my mug shot.”

Trump, who’s facing more than 90 felony charges in a slew of cases, compared his situation to the history of Black oppression.

“A lot of people said that’s why the Black people liked me,” Trump said, “because they had been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing. Maybe there’s something to it?”

(And if this isn’t proof that we need critical race theory in schools, I don’t know what is.)

Barkley, Arizona’s most famous Black resident, reacted on his CNN show “King Charles” with pure disgust.

“First of all … if I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot, I’m gonna punch him in the face,” Barkley said.

He wasn’t........

© Arizona Republic