National Basketball Association

Charles Barkley on the election: 'I am having a hard time with the Hillary thing'

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Charles Barkley says he isn’t especially convinced by Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate.

In a session with reporters—including SI’s Richard Deitsch—Barkley touched briefly on politics when asked, explaining that he typically leans left. He was more oblique about exactly what his issue is with Clinton, as well as what exactly he plans to do on Nov. 8.

From The Crossover:

”I have voted Democrat my entire life. [Ohio Governor] John Kasich was the first time I was going to vote Republican because I like Kasich. But I have to tell you something. I am having a hard time with the Hillary [Clinton] thing. I’m having a hard time pulling the lever for her. There is something about her that rubs the wrong way…I am undecided about whether I am going to vote or not, but I am not undecided.”

So, there you have it: decidedly undecided about voting, but not wholly undecided.

Barkley also offered his perspective on Republican nominee Donald Trump's "locker room talk" defense of his lewd comments about women and sexual assault. Here's what Barkley said:

"Let me say this: It is never appropriate to touch a woman, grab a woman. I have a daughter. It is never appropriate to sexually assault or harass a woman, ever—there’s no place for that. But to act like I have not heard or said something inappropriate that I wouldn’t want to get to the public, it’s just not true. I played for 16 years and I’m not going to lie to you: I am against sexual assault and harassment. There is no place for that ever. But to act like in my 16 years in an NBA locker room, I haven’t heard sexually explicit stuff or said sexually explicit stuff, that’s just not true."

Read the full interview on The Crossover, SI’s new home for NBA coverage.

This article originally appeared on