Jesse Watters Charles Barkley

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Right-wing media lash out at Charles Barkley after he defends LGBTQ people's right to exist

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Jack Wheatley

Research contributions from Isabella Corrao

Published

Right-wing media personalities have latched onto another celebrity to further their campaign against Bud Light after its collaboration with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, attacking former basketball star and TV analyst Charles Barkley for defending LGBTQ people and supporting the beer brand. 

Barkley was taped on stage at a bar encouraging the crowd to drink Bud Light, saying, “Let me tell you something. All you rednecks or assholes who don’t want to drink Bud Light, fuck y’all.” He went on to say, “If you’re gay, God bless you. If you’re transgender, God bless you. And if you have a problem with that, fuck you.”

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Reactions to Barkley’s comments have ranged from personal attacks to antisemitic conspiracy theories about why he’s voicing his support. Others have used the video as an excuse to spread harmful and baseless lies that LGBTQ people are a threat to children.

  • On his radio show, Fox News host Mark Levin said Charles Barkley “can go to hell. Let him drink all the Bud Light he wants.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 7/18/23]

  • Levin also wrote that “I used to like this guy. Not anymore.” [Twitter, 7/17/23] 

  • Fox News host Jesse Watters asked, “What happened to Sir Charles?” He added, “The minute he signs with CNN, he turns into Don Lemon? But Bud Light, nothing compared to Disney.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/17/23]

  • BlazeTV podcast host Jason Whitlock suggested “somebody” has told celebrities like Barkley to support LGBTQ rights to succeed. He wrote, “I still enjoy Charles Barkley and I still have a great deal of respect for him, but I'm seeing Charles and all celebrities & influencers pivot and it's like somebody has stressed to them that supporting the Alphabet Mafia is central to their success.” [Twitter, 7/17/23]

  • On his show, Whitlock reiterated the conspiracy theory but added an antisemitic twist, saying, “The Rothschilds, whoever's in control of the Federal Reserve, those people” are paying influencers to promote their message. [BlazeTV, Fearless with Jason Whitlock, 7/17/23]

  • Whitlock’s guest Royce White claimed that Barkley was being influenced by a Jewish “cabal.” [BlazeTV, Fearless with Jason Whitlock, 7/17/23]

    ROYCE WHITE (GUEST): Steve Kim uses the word cabal and I like it for this situation because I think one of the real signals with Charles was when the whole Kyrie Irving thing went down, and Charles' public statement on it was, you can't criticize them and then want to play in their league. So his his whole MO, his whole modus operandi is whoever's in control, whoever the elites are, whatever they want, that's what you should fall in line with, or else go find something else to do. And it's a real – it's a real sign and lack of of moral character. It's easy to go on TV and say things. It's hard to stand for things, and then even harder to die for things. But you know, with the Kyrie situation, it's not really their league. I mean, they've kind of done, in the NBA and with basketball exactly what the international banking cartel has done with business and capital all over the world. They've played middle man, and they've used a middle man role to solidify power. That doesn't mean they own it. And they didn't. They damn sure didn't create it. And they damn sure they're don't sustain it with their talent and skill. They broker it. That's not the same.

    JASON WHITLOCK: And they organized it though, Royce. And the reason they organized is because we won't.

    WHITE: No. Not only that. They won't let us organize it. There's some of that too. You know what, when the Ice Cubes and I don't like that's not Diddy, but Russell Simmons and, you know, a couple other, you know, Black entrepreneurs. They won't let them own a team. You have to bow to the agenda of new world order in order for them to even let you be in the organization position.

    WHITLOCK: I was just watching a documentary though, Royce, Not that this documentary is the end all be all. But it was a documentary about how the Jews created Hollywood, and it was put on by Jews. I don't want anybody to call me antisemitic. Jews did this documentary that I was watching, and it was a celebration of them creating Hollywood, and it talked about all the resistance they felt from the Edison – film and it's because that's who started it, I think Thomas Edison or people from that lot, lineage. And and that the whole system was stacked up against Jewish people initially and their rise in Hollywood. And they fought through that.

    ...

    ROYCE: Nobody's saying that the Jews aren't getting played either, and their role in this whole thing. This whole new world order deal is a matter of Satan. It's a matter of metaphysical forces pushing an agenda and pushing people towards a certain end. The Jews play a role and the Blacks play a role and the CCP and certain the Chinese player where everybody's got their corner of the market, but they certainly have a very dominant role in Hollywood. But even more importantly, now, today, they have a very, very dominant role in law. And the legalfare is what is really the real head of new world order.

  • Former Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield tweeted, “Barkley doesn’t understand the boycott is not about being anti-gay or transgender. It’s about the targeting of our youth.” [Twitter, 7/16/23]

  • Responding to Barkley’s comments, OutKick’s Tomi Lahren tweeted, “Proud to be a redneck. Yee Haw.” [Twitter, 7/18/23] 

  • OutKick’s Dan Dakich went on a transphobic rant on his YouTube show in reaction to Barkley. He said: “I ain't standing up for Bud Light. You can't take and disparage women like that. You just can't. You can't try to tell me and my peeps that we're gonna use a fake woman to disparage women.” [OutKick, Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich, 7/18/23]

  • Conspiracy theory website Gateway Pundit posted an article titled “YUCK: NBA Legend Charles Barkley Fully Embraces Dylan Mulvaney – Calls Bud Light Critics ‘Rednecks’ and ‘A**holes’ in Disgusting Bar Speech (VIDEO).” [The Gateway Pundit, 7/17/23]

  • Dan Bongino’s website Bongino Report posted, “Charles Barkley Triggered by Bud Light Boycotts.” [GETTR, 7/17/23]

  • Eric Spracklen attacked Barkley’s intelligence, tweeting, “More proof that being rich doesn’t make you intelligent.” [Twitter, 7/17/23]

  • Collin Rugg of the right-wing website Trending Politic” asked, “Is Barkley trying to get a job in the Bud Light marketing department?” [Twitter, 7/18/23]