NBA legend Charles Barkley told Nikki Haley he was “dying to vote for her,” but now he can’t because he said the United States is not a racist country.
Gayle King and Charles Barkley grilled the former South Carolina governor and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful about her claim that the United States is “not a racist country.”
In an interview in cnn On Wednesday, Barkley said, “I can say: I’m dying to vote for you.” And that hurt me. So I’d love for you to clarify that.’
Haley clarified that she never denied the existence of racism, but emphasized that the United States, as a country, is not fundamentally racist.
‘So, first of all, I never said there was no racism in America. There is absolutely racism in America,” Haley responded. “I said America was not a racist country.”
Republican hopeful Nikki Haley clarified during an appearance on CNN with NBA legend Charles Barkley and Gayle King that she never denied the existence of racism, but emphasized that the United States, as a country, is not fundamentally racist.
Haley’s comments came after Barkley said he was “dying to vote for her” but now can’t because he said the United States is not a racist country.
Harley shared her personal experience as an Indian family in the South and highlighted her mother’s focus on finding common ground.
‘When I grew up, the only Indian family in a small rural southern town, we weren’t white enough to be white. We weren’t black enough to be black,” he said.
“They didn’t know who we were or what we were or why we were there,” he continued. “If my mom had told me that we lived in a racist country, she would have grown up never thinking that she could be governor, never thinking that she could be an ambassador, never thinking that she could run for president.”
‘But my mom always said that your job is not to show them how you’re different. Your job is to show them how you’re alike,” she said. “And it’s amazing how that lesson on the playground developed throughout my life.”
King responded to the 52-year-old daughter of an Indian immigrant, claiming that the troubling part of her 2020 statement was when she said that “America is not a racist country.”
Haley responded by saying, “I think the premise of America was not to be a racist country.”
‘I think they said that every man was created equal to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that getting to the place he needed in America was a work in progress. But I don’t think the basis of America was that we were a racist country.”
‘I think the goal was always to have freedom. Now, now we stumbled along the way and we have some parts of our story that weren’t pretty, but we got through it. I don’t think our founders wanted us to have a racist country. I don’t believe it.’
King responded to the 52-year-old daughter of an Indian immigrant, claiming that the troubling part of his 2020 statement was when he said that “America is not a racist country.”
The conversation then turned to Haley’s stance on embryos, where she clarified her belief in treating the issue with respect, advocating for parental rights and responsible handling by doctors.
“First of all, I didn’t say I agreed with the Alabama ruling,” he said.
‘I think if you look at the definition, an embryo is considered a fetus. The difference is…we must treat these issues with the utmost respect.”
Finally, on immigration, Haley – who is trying to defeat Donald Trump in the Republican primary before the 2024 election – proposed a national E-Verify system, defunding sanctuary cities, increasing border patrol and reinstating the policy of “Remaining in Mexico.”
When I was governor of South Carolina, we passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country. “We need to take what we did in South Carolina and take it to the national level.”
‘We need a national E-Verify program that requires companies to prove that the people they hire are legally in this country. “We need to defund sanctuary cities once and for all.”
‘We can’t have safe havens. That’s the incentive that makes them want to come here. We need to go and put 25,000 Border Patrol and ICE agents on the ground and let them do their job. We need to return to the Remain in Mexico policy. And instead of capture and release, we have to capture and deport.”
He criticized Congress for not addressing the border issue effectively and called for immediate measures to secure the border, urging not to delay the process for political reasons.
“Congress needs to come in and do its job and Donald Trump needs to stay out of it because Americans need to be protected,” he said. “And we have to secure that border.”
‘The United States is acting as if it were September 10. We better remember how it felt on September 12th. It only takes one person to have a moment of emergency.’
‘I think they said that every man was created equal to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that getting to the place he needed in America was a work in progress. But I don’t think the foundation of America was that we were a racist country,” Haley said in response to questioning. Pictured: Haley speaking in South Carolina on Wednesday.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley participates in a rally at the Rochester American Legion in Rochester, New Hampshire, in January.
Haley proclaimed that the United States is not a racist country in 2020.
‘In much of the Democratic Party, it is now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country,” Haley said, speaking from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., at the time.
In 2024, he said it again, doubling down on his claim.
“We are not a racist country… We have never been a racist country,” the Republican candidate said in an interview with Fox.
“Our goal is to make sure we are better than yesterday,” he added.
Haley added, “I’m a brown girl who grew up in South Carolina, who became the first minority governor in history, who became a UN ambassador and is now running for president.”
MSNBC sparked outrage last year after accusing Nikki Haley of “using her brown skin to whitewash white supremacy” in the early days of her presidential campaign.
Host Mehdi Hasan led a heated discussion about the Republican candidate, with his guests taking aim at Haley following her repeated claim that the United States “is not a racist country.”
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is married to William Michael Haley (center left), a commissioned officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard. The two share a daughter, Rena (left), and a son, Nalin (right).
MSNBC sparked controversy after taking aim at Nikki Haley and criticizing her for ‘using her brown skin as a weapon.’
“I look at Haley and I feel sad,” Daily Beast contributor Wajahat Ali said during the outrageous exchange.
“She uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor black people and poor brown black people.”
Haley became the first major Republican to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year.
But his candidacy has sparked a wave of controversial comments from liberal pundits, with CNN’s Don Lemon and The View’s Whoopi Goldberg among those criticized for their attacks on the Republican.
Ali followed up her suggestion that Haley uses her skin color as a “weapon” by calling her a “brown-skinned alpha Karen.”