Former NBA star Charles Barkley recently stated that if he were to meet Donald Trump, he would show him respect, despite not supporting him as a presidential candidate.

Last year, Barkley said he’d punch black people who show support for Trump by wearing his infamous mug shot on a t-shirt. 

It seems that Barkley may have shifted his stance on the matter. During a discussion on ‘The Steam Room,’ Barkley talked about the relationship between sports and politics. He specifically mentioned a situation where the Philadelphia Eagles were falsely reported to have declined a White House invitation due to their disapproval of Trump. However, the Eagles have since confirmed their attendance.

Barkley, aged 62, expressed support for the Eagles’ decision to accept Trump’s invitation, regardless of their personal views on his presidency.

‘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.

‘It bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House. When did we reach a point as a country when we were like, “We’re not going to the White House because we don’t like who is in there?”‘

Charles Barkley says he would treat Donald Trump with ‘dignity’ if he ever met the President

Barkley’s comments come amid Trump’s White House Eagles invite after their Super Bowl win

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

‘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”‘.

Last year, Barkley caused outrage when he said he’d punch black people wearing Trump’s mug shot on a t-shirt. 

Trump said that his mug shot appealed to black voters because he’s ‘being discriminated against’ at a gala organized by the Black Conservative Federation.

Responding in March 2024, Barkley said to Gayle King: ‘If I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot, I’m gonna punch him in the face. Oh, I mean that sincerely.

‘If I was at that, I would have gotten up and walked out. That was an insult to all black people. It’s not a fair comparison. He’s a billionaire. He’s had a great life. He’s been President of the United States. 

‘To insult black people who have been discriminated against all these years, to put them in the same category, I was just offended.’

Barkley has, however, been consistent in calling for athletes to respect whoever holds office.

Barkley last year said he would ‘punch’ people wearing Trump’s mug shot on a t-shirt

When he called for Joe Biden to step down from the race for the White House after his disastrous debate against Trump, Barkley underlined his belief that athletes would have to respect him if he became President again.

‘He’s had a great life, he’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever been fortunate to be around in my life, but it’s time to pass the torch,” Barkley said of Biden. “And listen … President Trump, I would never vote for somebody who had that mentality. 

‘You should always have respect for the office of whoever who’s in the presidency. I get mad at these sports teams. 

‘Some of these bozos won’t visit the White House because it’s a Democrat or a Republican in there. That is stupid. It’s the President of the United States. We should always admire that office, no matter who’s in there.’