For as long as can be remembered, professional and college athletics teams who win a championship have received the honor of being invited to the White House to celebrate and be honored by the President of the United States.

Over the last decade or so however since the first election of Donald Trump, a popular practice and storyline has become teams electing to skip the honor and not go even when invited. Previously, there was no question about it, and now whenever a team wins a title a talking point is will they or won’t they attend.

Perhaps one of the most accurate and unfortunate microcosms of the divisive state of today’s political landscape has been this issue.

Auburn Tigers legend and media figure Charles Barkley, who is a noted Democrat and regular critic of Trump, talked about this during a recent appearance on Outkick and called out athletes for this lunacy.

Charles Barkley rips athletes and teams for not going to the White House to visit Trump, says it needs to end. Vibe shift is real, y’all. pic.twitter.com/UAKWZs2pBL

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 5, 2025

“I don’t care who the president is. He’s the President of the United States,” Barkley said.

“It’s bothered me, the last 10 years, they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not going because this certain person is president.’ Dude, it’s the President of the United States. Even though I disagree with President Trump on some things, if I met him, I would still give him the respect and dignity he deserves. We can disagree, but it bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House. I’m just disappointed…we got so divided. Where did we get to as a country when we’re like, ‘We’re not going to the White House, we don’t like who’s in there.’ That’s just stupid.”

Barkley is generally extremely level-headed when it comes to discussing issues of this nature, and calling out the ridiculous practice of these athletes choosing to skip out on a chance to be honored in the most important building on the planet is just another example.