Photos of Donald Trump and Charles Barkley speaking into mics
Donald Trump and Charles Barkley (Photos via Getty Images & Imagn Images)

Former NBA star Charles Barkley has revealed exactly what he would do if he ever met Donald Trump face-to-face.

Barkley, who threatened to punch any black person in the face whom he caught wearing the President’s then-popular mugshot T-shirt last year, has softened his approach toward Trump now that he’s back in the White House.

He insists he will treat the POTUS with the respect he deserves if they ever meet, although he maintains he would never vote for him.

“Even though I disagree with President Trump on some things, if I met him, I would still give him the respect and dignity he deserves,” he said (H/T Daily Mail).

The NBA legend was speaking about politics in sports on ‘The Steam Room,’ more specifically, the reports claiming the Philadelphia Eagles would decline an invite to the White House after winning the Super Bowl.

Barkley implied that the Eagles should have been transparent with their intentions from the jump.

 

“That’s just stupid, in my opinion,” he remarked. “The (report) came out (that) the Eagles were not going to the White House, I said, ‘I hate that’.”

Charles Barkley Is Bothered By Teams Refusing To Visit The White House

Charles Barkley discussed his future in television
Charles Barkley (Image Credit: Getty Images)

Barkley claimed that players refusing to go to the White House because of who was there at the time had bothered him for years.

“Then they came back and said, ‘No, we would definitely go.’ And I said, ‘Yo man, I don’t care who the president is, he’s the President of the United States.’ It’s bothered me for the last 10 years when athletes are like, ‘Well I’m not going because this certain person is president’,” he added.

Of course, those reports were never confirmed.

Charles Barkley caused a stir with his comments on Trump’s mugshot threads a year ago after Trump claimed it appealed to black voters because he’s facing discrimination the same way they do.

“If I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot, I’m gonna punch him in the face,” Barkley told Gayle King. “Oh, I mean that sincerely.”

Still, the Hall of Famer has been urging athletes to respect whoever is President at any given time.