Trump on black protester attacked after disrupting his speech: 'Maybe he should've been roughed up'

After a black protester yelled, "Black lives matter!" at a Donald Trump rally Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, several white people punched, kicked, and tried to choke him before security officers escorted him out, The Washington Post reports. Activist Mercutio Southall Jr. told AL.com people also called him "monkey" and "n--ger."

When the fight briefly interrupted the rally, Trump said, "Get him the hell out of here, will you, please?"

Afterward, Trump's campaign said it "does not condone" the physical violence, CNN reports. But in a Fox & Friends interview Sunday, the Republican presidential hopeful himself took a different tone.

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"Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing," Trump said before calling the protester "an obnoxious guy who was looking to make trouble."

Southall said he doesn't think he was seriously injured and that he'd like to see a police investigation into the attack against him.

Listen to Trump's full comments on Fox & Friends here.