'Just stupid': Charles Barkley belly-laughs at Nikki Haley over her perspective about racism in America

NBA legend Charles Barkley belly-laughed at Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley over her controversial declaration about America.

Last week, the former South Carolina governor declared that America is not a "racist country" and that America has "never been a racist country."

The comments generated controversy because, in the eyes of her critics, there is a plethora of evidence showing that America was, in part, founded on racist ideals like, for example, slavery and the Three-Fifths Compromise. And when Barkley had his opportunity to respond, he could do nothing but laugh.

After composing himself, the basketball legend mocked Haley.

"I've been having a hard time trying to decide who I'm going to vote for. So, Nikki Haley is the leader in the clubhouse because she's 100% correct if you forget about slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, anti-Semitism, Asian hate that's been going on in this country — America has been smooth sailing," he said on his CNN show.

Barkley said Haley's comment is "just stupid" because "America was built on racism." But, according to Barkley, that doesn't mean America is not the "greatest country in the world."

"Listen, you can criticize a country. This is the greatest country in the world. You can still criticize it. Anybody who thinks we don't have racism, you turn on the TV. Every single day there's racism. And for her, somebody who wants to be the president of the United States to say something that stupid — and that's just stupid," he said.

"Because you can't think that. You can't think that racism doesn't exist in this country," he continued. "America was built on racism, segregation, Jim Crow, slavery, even now we've got anti-Semitism that's through the roof. In the last couple years, Asian people have been getting mistreated."

Haley later defended her comments, and a spokesperson for Haley said there is a difference between a country being racist and a country having racism in it. USA Today, moreover, noted that Haley's own memoir recounts how her Indian family experienced prejudice.

In a recent interview, Haley also claimed to have experienced racism personally.

"I was teased every day for being brown," she said of her childhood. "So, anyone that wants to question it can go back and look at what I’ve said on how hard it was to grow up in the deep south as a brown girl."

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