Charles Barkley blasts Republican election deniers

Basketball Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley slammed Republican election deniers, claiming they’re creating a bad pattern for the country.

The Warner Bros. Discovery NBA on TNT analyst joined TNT’s sister network CNN Tuesday morning. He appeared on CNN This Morning with hosts Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins, and Poppy Harlow for a wide-ranging interview that touched on Kyrie Irving, cancel culture, and the midterm election cycle.

During his segment on CNN, Barkley stated he was glad that the midterm elections are over, especially in his resident state of Arizona where Kari Lake’s loss to Katie Hobbs is causing MAGA supporters to melt down.

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“All these election deniers – are they only saying an elections legit if they win?” Barkley astutely asked. “That’s the thing that’s frustrating to me. Are Republicans going to say unless we win that the election was stolen? Is that the motto we’re going to have for the rest of history? If they don’t win an election that it was stolen? And that was the thing that bothered me the most about watching Kari.”

While Barkley currently resides in Arizona, he has another home in Georgia where a runoff election between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Republican Herschel Walker will take place next month. And Barkley’s third state of residence is Pennsylvania, where Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz lost to state Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) following a highly scrutinized campaign.

“I’m so glad,” Barkley said of the elections coming to an end. “Well, of course, we still got the runoff down here in Georgia, but I live in the three craziest states whatsoever, it been crazy for the last six months and I’m so glad it’s over.”

While Barkley is a registered Independent, he stated the deep ideological lines dividing Republicans and Democrats are worrisome.

“I am disgusted with our politics,” Barkley ranted. “These people are elected to try and make things better. The notion that you’ve got to have every Republican vote, every Democratic vote is a flat-out joke! I can walk up to somebody who’s a Democrat or Independent or whatever, we don’t disagree on every subject and these politicians have ruined our country.”

[CNN]