Shaquille O'Neal, known as Shaq to many, has been outspoken on many topics, including basketball and politics. A past interview revealed that O'Neal shared positive comments on Donald Trump, who is running for president once again in the 2024 election.
What Happened: In a previous interview, Shaquille O'Neal acknowledged his friendship with Donald Trump and said he believes the then-presidential candidate was misunderstood before the 2016 election.
"Donald Trump speaks to an eclectic type audience," O'Neal said.
The former NBA star acknowledged that while Donald Trump speaks his mind, he often delivers his messages poorly.
"I just think he says it wrong."
O'Neal acknowledged that Trump has no problem telling people to tuck in their shirts or pointing things out.
"Donald's like a straight-up guy. He's a straight-forward guy."
Benzinga reached out to O’Neal’s team for an update on his current views regarding Trump, but no comment was provided.
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O'Neal's History in Politics: During the interview, O'Neal was asked if we would ever see him in politics to which he replied "never."
Interestingly enough, O'Neal tweeted a picture of himself with a “2024 Shaq For President” shirt in 2024 and asked if people would vote for him, as a potential joke or to test the waters.
While O'Neal mentioned his friendship with Trump and the positive aspects of the president before the 2016 election, he did not vote for his friend.
During a 2020 episode of Shaq's podcast "The Big Podcast with Shaq," the former NBA star revealed that he had never previously voted.
"You know I always like being honest on my podcast. I've never voted before, America," O'Neal said. “But, now I'm doing all these voting campaigns, and you know, one thing I never like to do is be a hypocrite.”
O'Neal admitted to using a mail-in ballot for the 2020 election, but did not share who he voted for.
"In other words, America, I voted for the first time, and it feels good."
O'Neal admitted to not understanding the electoral college system, mentioning that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 election, but lost to Trump, who had more electoral votes than her.
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