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Clinton makes Charles Barkley 'uncomfortable,' but he can't vote for Trump
We’re used to hearing Charles Barkley’s always-blunt and of-contentious opinions on almost all the country’s social and political hot-button topics — from the not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin to the grand jury’s decision not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the choking death of Eric Garner and North Carolina’s discriminatory House Bill 2.
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So much so that TNT announced a forthcoming TV show entitled “The Race Card,” hosted by Barkley.
It follows, then, that he would weigh-in on the crescendoing presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a sit-down interview with Turner Broadcasting partner CNN. And we also should not be surprised that Barkley’s commentary can be interpreted as both blunt and contentious.
“It’s very frustrating to me,” he said. “I’m disappointed for the American people, because let’s be realistic: It’s not going to have an effect on my life who wins the presidency, but I feel bad for hardworking American people. I’ve always voted Democrat my entire life, but I’m having a hard time pulling the trigger for her. She might be a wonderful person. I don’t know. But there are so many negatives about her. Like I said, I’ve always voted Democratic my entire life, and I’ve got to make a decision, because I take my vote very seriously. So, right now I haven’t made a decision if I’m going to vote or not, but if I vote, I’m going to vote Democratic. But it’s just something about her that makes me uncomfortable.”
This is not groundbreaking stuff from Barkley. Clinton is among the two most unfavorable presidential candidates in modern American history, and the other is Trump. Considering the Benghazi, Clinton Foundation and email controversies surrounding the Democratic nominee, chances are Barkley isn’t the first person you’ve heard say Clinton “makes me uncomfortable” or describe both candidates as a disappointment. However, there are those who will surely quibble with Barkley’s other sentiments.
For example, Barkley’s finances could be effected by two candidates with very different opinions on the taxation of multi-millionaires. Whether that actually would have any effect on how he lives his life is another question. If you believe one candidate represents a greater danger to the American people’s safety, then that too could have an effect on Barkley. The point is there are real stakes here.
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As for Barkley’s claim he’s “always voted Democrat my entire life,” well, that just seems strange, since he considered running a Republican gubernatorial campaign in Alabama in 1998 and professed eight years later, “I was a Republican until they lost their minds.” He then endorsed Barack Obama in 2008.
Anyway, it’s easy to see a headline like, “Charles Barkley to CNN: Hillary Clinton ‘makes me uncomfortable,’” and react with a “WOW,” but let’s hear him out on the other side of the aisle:
Barkley: “And clearly I can’t vote for the other guy.”
CNN: “Why have you already ruled out Donald Trump?”
Barkley: “Well, I think that he has been divisive, very divisive. I live in Arizona, and I think the Hispanic people are amazing. I think when people talk about illegal immigration, it does them a disservice. I think they are amazing. That’s my biggest problem talking about building a wall. Like I said, I think Hispanics are amazing people living in Arizona, and they get a bad rap. But I always want to be inclusive. He talks about the Muslims. To label all Muslims with a blanket, I think is disrespectful. Clearly, some of them are not good people, but every ethnic group’s got some fools. But to label all Muslims the same with a blanket as terrorists, I think that’s disrespectful.”
This isn’t the first time Barkley has addressed this topic. During an NBA on TNT segment this past December, he pledged support for Republican presidential candidate John Kasich, criticized CNN’s election coverage and described a portion of Trump’s supporters as “losers” who are “afraid to look in the mirror and see why their life sucks. Your life sucks because of you, not because of Hispanics” — not unlike Clinton grouping “half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.”
Considering Trump has described Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” Barkley isn’t breaking ground here, either.
Still, it’s Barkley’s straightforward and fearless manner of speaking on sensitive subjects, even if his opinions aren’t always informed, that makes him such a popular character on television — much like Trump, in some regard. And with that comes comments like this from Barkley, while addressing in his CNN interview the Republican nominee’s lewd conversation with Billy Bush on an “Access Hollywood” bus in 2005 and the subsequent sexual assault allegations against Trump after the tape’s release:
“Well, let me say this: I have a daughter, so I’m against any form of sexual harassment or sexual assault. I want to make that perfectly clear. I’m against any form of sexual assault or sexual harassment. But, in a locker room, I’ve heard things and I’ve said things myself that I would not want to be repeated publicly. For people to act like they haven’t heard stuff in the locker room is disingenuous. I have heard things in the locker room that I would not want to be said publicly, and I’ve said things in the locker room that I would not want to be heard publicly.”
The “I have a daughter” caveat is unnecessary, but regardless, Barkley is quite adamant in his stance against sexual harassment, as most anyone would be. Although, his willingness to seemingly accept Trump’s description of what was said on that bus as “locker room talk” could use further explanation.
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Of course, most anybody who’s been in a locker room has heard — and maybe even said — things they would not want to be repeated publicly, possibly even the “p—-” word, but it does seem different when a presidential nominee boasts about and rationalizes sexual assault. (For those who will no doubt remind us Trump said, “They let you do it,” when describing how he kisses and gropes women, remember he also said, “I don’t even wait,” while speaking in the context of exerting his power.)
Surely, Barkley will expound upon this topic and others when his TV show comes out in early 2017. In the meantime, we’ll just have to take him at his word, which unsurprisingly is blunt and contentious.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
