Donald Trump is currently fighting for votes in the primary elections. He also resorts to unsubstantiated allegations. This angers some observers.
Longtime NBA star Charles Barkley has sharply criticized Donald Trump. Trump claimed at a gala of the Black Conservative Federation, the association of conservative blacks in the USA, that the mugshot of his arrest in August 2023 would be well received by African Americans. The 77-year-old compared his own charges to the decades of discrimination they faced.
“Charles, you can’t say that”
Barkley said on his show “King Charles” with host Gayle King on CNN: “If I see a black person walking around with Trump’s mugshot, I’ll punch him in the face.” Gayle King then interrupted Barkley, saying, “Charles, you can’t say that and you don’t mean it.” The 61-year-old contradicted his colleague: “I’m serious.” King replied, “And then you get arrested. What happens then?” Barkley replied, “Then I’ll buy my way out and celebrate.”
The former power forward, who was voted NBA MVP as a player for the Phoenix Suns in the 1990s, then replied: “If I had been at that event, I would have stood up and left. That was an attack on all black people. The story, in that we were discriminated against to compare with his situation…First of all, he’s a billionaire, and second of all, he’s being prosecuted for things he did wrong. At least some things are true. They stormed the Capitol, they claimed that the lost election was stolen. These are not lies.”
Trump is known for his exaggerated or fabricated claims in his speeches. Nevertheless, the 77-year-old has had a lot of success with his appearances among Republican voters. He is on course for victory in the current US primaries.