Charles Barkley shut down any talk of a political career this week. A caller named Milton pressed him on Michael Smerconish’s SiriusXM show. The Hall of Famer gave a clear answer.
“Listen, man, I am not gonna go to work with fools every day that don’t care about — I tell people this all the time, Milton,” Barkley said. “The American public, they’re like in a game, but they don’t even know they’re in a game.”
He expanded on the point.
“Let’s say, if you get elected, and you’re a Republican or a Democrat, do you really wanna screw the other group? Like, nah. If I get elected, I want the Democrats and the Republicans to be on the same roads. I want them all to have the same economic opportunity. I’m not for, like, if I win, I want the other team to lose.”
Charles Barkley Recalls Past Political Talks
Barkley came close once before. He met privately with Democrats and Republicans in Alabama. That was during early 2000s talk of a governor run in his home state.
“I did come close,” he told Smerconish. “I met with the Democrats and the Republicans of Alabama privately. And I realized that both parties sucked.”
He ruled out running as an independent.
“You can’t win as an independent,” Barkley said.
The message stayed consistent with his long-held view of both major parties.
Charles Barkley Sticks to Independent Voice
Barkley has criticized both sides for years. He calls himself an independent thinker. He wants shared roads and shared opportunities instead of team-based wins and losses.
The Inside the NBA star keeps his platform on basketball. He has used it to speak freely on many topics. Politics remains off the table for any official run.
Meanwhile, he has touched on various topics, including the ongoing trans-athlete debate in the WNBA.
“First of all, you can’t let stupid stuff go out to the internet, which is one of the worst things that ever happened to the world,” Barkley said after sharing his disappointment on the WNBA and NBA Commissioners. “They should have come out two weeks ago before all this. People are looking for attention now…but [Freedom] has a point though, because Cathy and Adam haven’t said, ‘Hey, it’s in the title, WNBA.”
“‘There’s no transgender people going to play in the WNBA. If you don’t like it, kick rocks. And we’re not going to discuss it anymore,” he said.
He will keep calling games and speaking his mind. Running for office is not part of the plan.
