By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, December 11, 2015
Charles Barkley during TNT's NBA coverage Thursday night decided to go after sister station CNN for its 2016 election coverage.
"To be honest with you, CNN has done an awful job this election, an awful job,” Barkley said. “They have followed ratings and soundbites this entire cycle. I love CNN because they’re part of our company, but they’ve been kissing butt, chasing ratings. They have become like Fox News for the Republicans, to be honest with you. They follow every single soundbite to just get ratings for these debates. And it’s been sad and frustrating that our company has sold their soul for ratings.”
He was forced to talk politics because he was promoting the upcoming Republican debates on CNN Tuesday in a strange case of cross-company synergy. CNN and TNT are both part of Turner Broadcasting, which is part of Time Warner.
"To try to divide and conquer, it's just sad," Barkley said, about the Republicans and Donald Trump in particular. "You have these losers who love them. They are afraid to look in the mirror and say why their life sucks. They have to blame other people. Your life sucks for a reason because of you, not because of Hispanics. Do we have to do something about the extremists. It's been sad to watch him insult people poll numbers go up."
He said he supports John Kasich out of Ohio but "he hasn't been able to get any traction whatsoever."
Barkley in 2006 talkd about running for governor of Alabama in 2010 but didn't end up doing it.
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