Charles Barkley doesn’t support Donald Trump on everything, but the loquacious NBA analyst believes sports teams like the Philadelphia Eagles shouldn’t boycott Trump’s White House over political disagreements.
Trump formally invited the Super Bowl champion Eagles to the White House last week, but the team has yet to announce its plans.
“I don’t care who the president is,” Barkley said on The Steam Room podcast with co-host Ernie Johnson. “He’s the President of the United States. It’s bothered me, the last 10 years, they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not going because this certain person is president.’ Dude, it’s the President of the United States.”
Barkley added: “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. We can disagree, but it bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House. I’m just disappointed… We got so divided. Where did we get to as a country when we’re like, ‘We’re not going to the White House, we don’t like who’s in there.’ That’s just stupid, in my opinion.”
Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl when he went to the Eagles' blowout victory over the two-time champion Kansas City Chiefs. According to the Daily Beast, at least 15 people joined Trump in his suite, including his daughter Ivanka and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. They left around halftime.
Trump later bashed Taylor Swift after she was “hit with boos” during the game.
“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” he wrote on Truth Social. “She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!”
After the Eagles' first Super Bowl victory in 2018, then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused the team of pulling a “political stunt,” which led to Trump revoking the invite to celebrate at the White House.
Trump called on the NFL to “fire” players kneeling during the national anthem in 2016-17, and some Eagles players said they did not want to visit the White House.
In the first two-plus years of Trump’s first term, 20 pro sports teams won championships, but only 10 celebrated at the White House. Trump did not invite many of the teams, and some made it clear that they would not have attended even if he had.
Among the teams not invited were the 2017 women’s college basketball champion South Carolina Gamecocks, the 2017 WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx and the 2018 women’s college NCAA champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The 2018 WNBA champion Seattle Storm were not invited, but they also said they would not have attended the ceremony if they were.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.