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Charles Barkley, former NBA star and Alabama native spoke to CNN after Doug Jones’ win in Alabama. The TNT host called the victory in Alabama a “wake up call” for the Democratic party. Going on to say that it is “time to get off their ass” and stop “abusing” the black vote and taking it for granted.

“This is more a referendum on the state of Alabama,” Barkley told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I’m just so proud of my state. I love my state. We got some amazing people here. Yeah, we got a bunch of rednecks and a bunch of ignorant people, but we got some amazing people here and they rose up today.”

“This is a wake-up call for Democrats,” Barkley said. “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. It’s time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for blacks folks and [people who are poor. They’ve always had our votes and they have abused our votes and this is a wake-up call. we got in a great position now. But this is a wake-up call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people.”

Post polls show black voters as the force behind the upset victory.

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