NBA fans who tuned in for TNT’s basketball analysis on Christmas Day got more than they bargained for — a lecture on tax cuts by commentator Charles Barkley.
A game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night quickly turned political when colleagues Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson joked about ways their co-host might be fired. Mr. Barkley, who campaigned on behalf of Democrat Doug Jones during Alabama’s recent Senate race, steered the conversation to the Trump administration’s legislative victory on tax reform.
“I just want all these poor people to keep waiting for this ’trickle down.’ They’ve been waiting for like 400 years. It ain’t trickled down yet,” the former NBA star said.”
“You like that tax break, Chuck?” Mr. O’Neal asked, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“I don’t like it for poor people,” Mr. Barkley said. “Rich people should not get tax breaks, Shaq.”
President Trump signed a $1.5 trillion tax-reform package Friday that cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
“The bottom line here is that a typical family making the median family income will get a $2,059 tax cut next year,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said Dec. 19 while defending the legislation. “This is real relief for families out there living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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