NBA legend Charles Barkley tells Nikki Haley he ‘went on there to vote for her’ but now can’t because she said America isn’t a racist country

NBA legend Charles Barkley told Nikki Haley he “went in there to vote for her,” but that’s no longer possible because she said America isn’t a racist country.

The former South Carolina governor and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful was questioned by Gayle King and Charles Barkley about her claim that the United States is “not a racist country.”

In an interview on CNN On Wednesday, Barkley said, “I can say, I’m eager to vote for you. And that hurt me. So I’d like you to clarify that.’

Haley clarified that she has never denied the existence of racism, but emphasized that America as a country is not fundamentally racist.

“So first of all, I never said racism doesn’t exist in America. There is definitely racism in America,” Haley replied. “I said America wasn’t a racist country.”

Harley shared her personal experiences as an Indian family in the South and highlighted her mother’s focus on finding common ground.

“When I was growing up, the only Indian family in a small, rural town in the South, we weren’t white enough to be white. We weren’t black enough to be black,” she said.

“They didn’t know who we were or what we were or why we were there,” she continued. “If my mother had told me we lived in a racist country, I never would have thought I could be governor, never thought I could be ambassador, and never thought I could run for president.”

“But my mother always said, it’s not your job to show them how different you are. Your job is to show them how much alike you are,” she said. “And it’s amazing how that lesson on the playground has played out throughout my life.”

King fired back at the 52-year-old daughter of an Indian immigrant, claiming the disturbing part of her 2020 statement was when she said, “America is not a racist country.”

Haley responded, saying, “I think America’s starting point was not to be a racist country.”

“I think they said that every man was created equal with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that ended up where it needed to be: 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 freedom. Now, we’ve stumbled along the way and we have some parts of our history that weren’t pretty, but we got over that. I don’t think our founders wanted us to have a racist country. I do not believe that.’

The conversation then moved to Haley’s position on embryos, where she clarified her beliefs in respectful treatment of the issue, advocating for the rights of parents and responsible treatment by doctors.

“First of all, I did not say that I agree with the ruling in Alabama,” she said.

‘I do think that if you look at the definition, an embryo is considered an unborn baby. The difference is…we must treat these issues with the utmost respect.”

Finally, Haley—who is trying to defeat Donald Trump in the Republican primaries ahead of the 2024 elections—proposed a national E-Verify system, which would defund sanctuary cities, expand border security, and “Remain in Mexico.” policy is restored.

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 run with it nationally.”

“We need a national E-Verify program that requires companies to prove that the people they hire are legal residents in this country. We must 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 put 25,000 Border Patrol and ICE agents on the ground and let them do their jobs. We need to go back to the ‘stay in Mexico’ policy. And instead of catch and release, we should catch and deport.”

She criticized Congress for not effectively addressing the border issue and called for immediate action to secure the border, urging a delay for political reasons.

“Congress needs to get in there and do its job and Donald Trump needs to stay out of it because Americans need to be protected,” she said. “And we have to secure that border.”

“America is acting like it’s September 10th. We can better remember what September 12th felt like. It only takes one person to have a 911 moment.”

Haley stated that the United States in 2020 is not a racist country.

“It is now fashionable in much of the Democratic Party to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country,” Haley said at the time from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

In 2024, she said it again, doubling the claim.

“We are not a racist country… We have never been a racist country,” the Republican candidate said in a Fox Interview.

“Our goal is to make sure we are better than we were yesterday,” she added.

Haley added, “I’m a brown girl who grew up in South Carolina, who became the first female minority governor in history, who became a U.N. 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 hopefuls, with his guests targeting Haley after her repeated claim that America “is not a racist country.”

“I see Haley and I feel sad,” Daily Beast contributor Wajahat Ali said during the bizarre exchange.

“She uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor black people and poor brown-black people.”

Haley last year became the first major Republican to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.

But her candidacy has sparked a wave of controversial comments from liberal pundits, including CNN’s Don Lemon and The View’s Whoopi Goldberg among those who came under fire for their attacks on the Republican.

Ali followed up on his suggestion that Haley use her skin color as a “weapon” by calling her a “brown-skinned alpha Karen.”