NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley threw himself at Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s feet while interviewing her on CNN’s “King Charles” Wednesday night.
“Governor, I’m dying to vote for you. I mean that sincerely,” Barkley gushed to the former UN Ambassador.
Barkley did, however, add a caveat. “I want to give all my energy and all my heart behind your campaign, but I was upset when you said you didn’t think America has racism.”
Charles Barkley says he is ‘dying to vote’ for Nikki Haley and put ‘all his heart’ behind her GOP presidential campaign, then gives Haley a chance to clarify her comments that America was ‘never a racist country’ pic.twitter.com/0fhxr23HNm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 22, 2024
“First of all, I never said that there was not racism in America,” Haley responded. “There absolutely is racism in America. I said that America is not a racist country.”
Barkley has long been an outspoken member of the sports media, most recently making waves after calling San Francisco a city with a “bunch of homeless crooks.”
He was on the money there, but he’s missing the mark here. Nikki Haley will not fight for the common man. Her donors simply will not let her. (RELATED: Cuomo Pushes Back On Sununu, Says Haley Has Been ‘Kissing The Ring’)
Barkley pressed her on the border in this interview, saying, “We have to admit, the border is, I would say it’s chaos, but that wouldn’t do it justice … what’s the best way to address the immigration issue?
To Haley’s credit, she had a pretty good answer, touting a national e-verify program, defunding sanctuary cities, adding more border patrol agents and changing catch-and-release to catch-and-support. But answering a question while running is easy, implementing those policies is a whole ‘nother ball game. And Haley’s corporate donors, many of whom likely benefit from the cheap labor that the migrant influx supplies, might keep her from implementing these reforms.