On MLK Day, New Jersey NAACP leader says he’d ‘knock out’ Trump

TRENTON — The president of the New Jersey NAACP honored Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon who championed nonviolent protest, by threatening President-elect Donald Trump with violence.

Richard T. Smith made it clear Monday that he is no fan of the incoming president or African-Americans who support him.

Speaking to the Community YMCA and YMCA of Western Monmouth County's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, Smith said he would have "knocked him out" had he been near the president-elect after he sent out a tweet critical of Rep. John Lewis on Saturday, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Trump tweeted that Lewis “should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results" after Lewis called Trump's presidency "illegitimate" on NBC's Meet The Press.

Smith compared Trump to other racists in history during his address.

"This is not the first time we've met somebody like Trump. C'mon people, we're here celebrating Dr King!" Smith said. "We've met Trump before. Those before us dealt with his relatives. We know his great-grandfather, Jim Crow; his uncles, Willie Lynch and Bull Connor; his cousin, George Wallace; some friends named David Duke and Jeff Sessions," Smith said, according to the report.

Smith also questioned the intentions of African-Americans who support Trump, citing Ben Carson, who will head up HUD under Trump, and advisor Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on Trump's Apprentice, Jim Brown, Ray Lewis, Kanye West and Steve Harvey.

Smith did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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