In February 2016 during a Las Vegas rally, Trump mocked protesters as they were ejected, and boasted of how he would like to “punch them in the face” while reminiscing of past times when they would’ve had to be “carried out in a stretcher.”

I love the old days, you know. You what I hate, there’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do in the old days for guys like that in a place like this? They’d be carried out in a stretcher, folks. That’s true.

You know I love our police, I really respect our police, and they’re not getting enough, they’re not, but,  honestly, I hate to see that. Here’s a a guy throwing punches nasty as hell, screaming at everything else when and we’re talking, and he’s walking out and we’re not allowed, you know, the guards are very gentle with him. Like big high-fives, smiling, laughing.

Like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell ya.

Though Trump claimed multiple times that the protester in question was throwing punches of his own, there is no evidence to support it. A security officer present, who asked to remain anonymous, told Politico that Trump “was just over-exaggerating.”

That same month, Trump promised to pay the legal fees for anyone who would “knock the crap out of” protesters, which he later reneged on when a supporter assaulted a protester.

Politico – Trump on protester: ‘I’d like to punch him in the face’
The New York Times – Donald Trump on Protester: ‘I’d Like to Punch Him in the Face’
The Washington Post – Donald Trump on a protester: ‘I’d like to punch him in the face’