Charles Barkley ‘wins’ Alabama Senate election

If the votes hold up, Charles Barkley will have helped Doug Jones become the first Democrat from Alabama elected to the Senate in two decades. Late Tuesday, Jones was ahead by a narrow margin over controversial Republican Roy Moore, who was not willing to concede.

While Jones’ accomplishment is huge, it was the former NBA star who really won the night with his comments to CNN and other outlets.

On Monday, Barkley spoke at a rally for Jones where he begged his native Alabama voters to “stop looking like idiots” by backing Moore.

During the victory celebration for Jones, Barkley doubled down.

“I’m just so proud,” Barkley said. “I’m just so proud of my state. We’ve got some amazing people here. Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of rednecks and a bunch of ignorant people, but we’ve got some amazing people here and they rose up today.”

Then Barkley, who has leaned right in the past, issued a challenge to Democrats in his home state.

“The Democrats — and I told Mr. Jones this, and I love Doug — they’ve taken the black vote and the poor vote for granted for a long time,” Barkley said. “It’s time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor. They’ve always had our votes, and they’ve abused our votes, and this is a wake up call.”

Barkley called the celebration with Jones “one of the greatest nights of my life.”

How was Barkley going to celebrate the big night? As you might expect.