Donald Trump’s apparent delight at seeing a protester seemingly being attacked in the audience during his speech at a 2026 midterm election campaign rally in South Carolina drew fierce condemnation.

It’s the second time in a matter of days that the president has faced criticism over his response to a heckler being attacked.

Fox News’ livestream of Trump stumping for Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) at Clemson University on Wednesday showed multiple people heckling the president.

Watch from the 20:30 point here:

During one interruption, as Trump railed against immigration, the camera panned to what appeared to be a man being attacked by another audience member.

Law enforcement officers appeared to escort the protester away, while the alleged attacker appeared to remain in place, something Trump’s subsequent comments also appeared to confirm.

The president watched the incident unfold.

“Wow, thank you, that was great. Man,” he said as a man was removed and chants of “USA, USA” rang out from the crowd.

Trump continued:

“Wow. Man. I loved that, I watched that. Man. You know, I watched that, I saw that. That was incredible. Wow. That was unbelievable. Is everybody OK? Yes? Who’s the guy that threw that punch? Who threw that punch?”

The crowd cheered.

Trump said:

“Man. Man. You know what you reminded me of? I saw it. I’m looking right at that area. And this lunatic, this, actually, I’m not supposed to talk about looks. He’s a very unattractive looking guy, actually. Once I turned political I had to say looks don’t matter. I could see the most beautiful woman and I don’t notice it, but that guy was a really unattractive guy. But who’s the guy that threw the punch? You are. You know, you reminded me of Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield.”

The reference to former boxing champion Evander Holyfield, who was at the rally, drew more cheers from the audience.

“No, the guy stood up, and he just let that little … and he got whacked. Man,” Trump said, prompting further cheers.

“They don’t realize it’s really dangerous to do that. It takes, you gotta give them credit,” he added. “It takes courage to do that at a Trump rally. He got whacked. Just. He started, you know, that screech. Whatever the hell they do, whatever they’re … and as he’s in the process of the screech, he got whacked. Evander, he wants your autograph, that man. Don’t fight him. Evander, don’t fight him.”

Trump then returned to his remarks on immigration.

Critics slammed Trump’s response and the incident as a whole as “depraved,” “disturbing” and more.

A depraved, shameful spectacle. The flag, the USA chant, all of it tainted for years.  pic.twitter.com/085uVVAp0y

So he is encouraging violence!

I don’t know which is more disturbing: the President of the United States’s jubilation over an American being punched in the face, or the audience’s celebration of it. https://t.co/2R651XJ7by

Here we go AGAIN! Trump promoting and praising violence as MAGA tries to tell you it is the other way around. https://t.co/uYD2x0Ji4c

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.