NBA icon Charles Barkley trash-talked his former network CNN in front of host Michael Smerconish on Monday, blasting the news outlet for its political commentary programs.
“When I’m sitting there watching the night shows, I’m like, they have two Republicans on, two Democrats. They scream at each other for an hour, and I’m like, that’s just an hour of my life I can’t get back, ” Barkley said on Smerconish’s SiriusXM radio show.
Barkley, who hosted a talk show on the network with journalist Gayle King before it was canceled in 2024, vented about political division in the U.S.
He told Smerconish, “The problem is people are brainwashed” into believing they need to pick a political label. The NBA star sees himself as an “independent person.”
“I don’t agree with everything Democrats or Republicans do. Why would I just say I’m a Democrat? Everybody should be an independent. I mean, that makes zero sense,” Barkley said.
He went off on Smerconish’s network, telling the weekend host, “I hate CNN now.”
“The rich people — they’re smarter,” Barkley said. “They’re like, ’Let’s just make the poor people fight with each other.’ And the poor people, they’ll be like, ‘You know, we’re actually in the same boat. We want economic opportunity. We live in crap neighborhoods. Our kids go to crap schools. We can’t afford to go to the big schools.’ But they’re like, ‘No, let’s make them fight with each other.’”