Richard Spencer, white nationalist spokesman, was punched in the face on camera in D.C.

Richard Spencer, a white nationalist, was punched in the face while giving a television interview. (Video: Facebook/ABC News via Storyful)

Richard Spencer, a spokesman for the white nationalist movement, was punched in the face on camera while doing an interview on Inauguration Day.

https://twitter.com/bakedalaska/status/822586868504129544

Spencer was being interviewed near Franklin Square in downtown Washington about inauguration protests when passersby began to ask him questions. Did he like black people? Was he a member of the KKK? Was he a hipster neo-Nazi? And what was with the Pepe the Frog button?

Spencer was explaining the provenance of Pepe, which has became a symbol for white nationalism, when a man wearing a mask or bandanna attacked him.

Spencer later responded to the attack on Twitter, condemning the violence.

“He came out of nowhere, sucker-punched me,” Spencer said. “It’s a bad scene.”

Spencer said he feared this would become “the meme to end all memes,” but that no one should worry. “I can take a punch,” he said.

The inauguration, he said, is too intense.

“I don’t know what exactly I’m going to do now that I’m a target,” he said. “I don’t know if I need a full-time bodyguard or what.”