NBA legend Charles Barkley tells Nikki Haley he was 'dying 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 was 'dying to vote for her' but now can't because she said America isn't a racist country. 

The former South Carolina Governor and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful was grilled 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 dying to vote for you. And that hurt me. So I would love you to clarify that.' 

Haley clarified that she never denied the existence of racism but emphasized that America, as a country, isn't fundamentally racist. 

'So, first of all, I never said that there was not racism in America. There absolutely is racism in America,' Haley replied. 'I said that America was not a racist country.' 

Republican hopeful Nikki Haley clarified during a CNN appearance with NBA legend Charles Barkley and Gayle King that she never denied the existence of racism but emphasized that America, as a country, isn't fundamentally racist

Haley's comments came after Barkley said he was 'dying to vote for her' but now can't because she said America isn't a racist country 

Harley shared her personal experience as an Indian family in the South, highlighting her mother's focus on finding commonalities.

'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,' she said. 

'They didn't know who we were or what we were or why we were there,' she continued. 'If my mom had told me that we lived in a racist country, I would have grown up never thinking I could be governor, never thinking I could be ambassador, never thinking I could run for president.'

'But my mom always said, your job is not to show them how you're different. Your job is to show them how you're similar,' she said. 'And it's amazing how that lesson on the playground played throughout my life.' 

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

Haley responded saying, 'I think the premise of America was not to be a racist country.' 

'I think that they said that every man was created equal with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and getting it to the place it needed to be was America was a work in progress. But I don't think that 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've got some parts of our history that were not pretty, but we got past that. I don't think that our founders wanted us to have a racist country. I don't believe that.'

King fired back at the 52-year-old daughter of Indian immigrant, claiming the troubling part of her statement from 2020 was when she said 'America is not a racist country'

The conversation then shifted to Haley's stance on embryos, where she clarified her belief in treating the issue with respect, advocating for parents' rights and responsible handling by physicians.

'First of all, I didn't say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling,' she said. 

'I do think that if you look in the definition, an embryo is considered an unborn baby. The difference is ... we need to treat these issues with the upmost respect.' 

Finally, on immigration, Haley - who is trying to defeat Donald Trump in the Republican primary ahead of the 2024 election - proposed a national E-Verify system, defunding sanctuary cities, increasing border patrol, and reinstating the 'Remain in Mexico' policy.

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 go national with it.'

'We need a national E-Verify program that requires businesses to prove that the people they hire are in this country legally. 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 go back to the Remain in Mexico policy. And instead of catch and release, we need to go to catch and deport.'

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

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

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

'I think that they said that every man was created equal with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and getting it to the place it needed to be was America was a work in progress. But I don't think that the basis of America was that we were a racist country,' Haley said in response to the grilling. Pictured: Haley speaking in South Carolina on Wednesday

Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley holds at rally at Rochester American Legion, 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's now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country,' said Haley, speaking from the Andrew W. Mellon auditorium in Washington, D.C., at the time. 

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

'We're not a racist country ... We've never been a racist country,' the GOP candidate said in a Fox Interview.

'Our goal is to make sure we are better than yesterday,' she added.

Haley added: 'I am a brown girl that grew up in South Carolina, who became the first female 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 launder white supremacy' in the early days of her presidential campaign.

Host Mehdi Hasan fronted a heated discussion about the Republican hopeful, where his guests took aim at Haley following her repeated claim that America 'is not a racist country.'

Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is married to William Michael Haley (center left), who is a commissioned officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard. The two share a daughter, Rena (left), and son, Nalin (right)

MSNBC sparked controversy after taking aim at Nikki Haley, slamming her for 'using her brown skin as a weapon'

'I see Haley and I feel sad', said Daily Beast contributor Wajahat Ali during the outlandish exchange.

'She uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor black folks and poor brown-black folks.'

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

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

Ali followed up his suggestion that Haley uses her skin color as a 'weapon' by branding her an 'alpha Karen with brown skin.'