NBA legend Charles Barkley has never hesitated to voice his opinions on various topics, including politics, and he has allowed his political stance has to shift over the years.
As reported by Andrew Holleran from The Spun, Charles Barkley has actually changed his political party a number of times throughout his life.
He started as a registered Republican while growing up in Alabama, then switched to the Democratic Party in the early 2000s. In 2008, he made one final change and became an Independent voter.
This evolution reflects Barkley’s nuanced political views, as he has criticized both Republicans and Democrats throughout his career, including recent remarks about Black voters considering support for Donald Trump.
“Now, I do want to say this. I want to make it perfectly clear. If you’re a black person and you wearing a Donald Trump mugshot, you are a freaking idiot,” Barkley said according to OutKick. “And I’m only saying ‘freakin’ idiot because they won’t let me say what I really wanna say. But you can figure it out, it starts with an ‘f.'”
But he also criticized the Democratic party for failing to live up to campaign promises.
“They come into our neighborhoods and say ‘we’re going to make stuff better. We’re going to do this, do this, do this,’” Barkley said according to NBC. “And then finally, us Black people are like ‘yo man, other than my ability to dunk a basketball, all my neighborhoods is still the same. Our schools are still the same.’ And that’s why Black people are being disappointed in the Democratic Party.”
Needless to say, this nuanced perspective has led to a lot of reactions from readers.
“I never really cared for Chuck in the past, this however makes me think maybe I have been missing something,” one person said in the comments of the story.
“Everyone is entitled to their legal vote,” another person said.
“An independent is just a Democrat who doesn’t want anyone to know that they’re democratic! Scared to show their true colors,” someone else said.
“Barkley gets it, so do I,” someone else commented.
“Thank you, sir,” another person said.
“His political party decision is not my business nor yours,” another person added.
Clearly, Barkley has problems with both political parties.
