Former NBA star Charles Barkley has slammed Democrats for not doing enough for black voters and for leaving minorities in poverty.

The former Phoenix Suns power forward attended last night's Democrat presidential candidate debate at the Fox Theatre in Detroit Michigan and said 'every black person I know has always voted Democratic' but all are 'still poor'.

Barkley said politicians from both parties 'took black votes for granted' and 'especially the Democratic Party' were not doing enough for the poor.

Speaking to reporters after the second round televised primary, he said 'both parties suck' when asked which candidates he backed.

The Space Jam movie star added he hoped he would still be employed as an analyst despite criticizing CNN's coverage of the Democrat presidential debates while his boss was just a few feet away.

Charles Barkley at the second 2020 Democratic Party presidential debate in Detroit Michigan last night

Barkley has criticized Democrats in the past for taking the votes of minorities for granted without helping their communities.

The NBA legend told Yahoo News last night: 'It's an economic thing and that's what both parties have been neglecting, especially the Democratic Party.

'Every black person I know has always voted Democratic and with the exception of a few guys who can play sports, all those people are still poor.'

Barkley added that the situation has not improved since he first spoke out in 2017.

He said: 'I think all politicians take black folks for granted. They talk to black folks every four years and that's about it and then do nothing about it. Both parties suck in that aspect.'

Joking he hoped he would not get fired as a basketball analyst for TNT, CNN's sister channel, the 1991 All-Star MVP laid into the channel's coverage and the debate format of having 10 candidates at once.

Barkley laid into politicians from both parties for not helping black voters and especially the Democrats for taking their votes for granted. Pictured are the 2020 candidates in Detroit

Barkely told Yahoo: 'We can do a much better job [of the debates], especially CNN. We could do a much better job of doing like an individual night where we have plenty of time.'

Jeff Zucker, the boss of TNT and CNN's sport's coverage was standing just a few feet away at the time of the remarks.

The sportsman added: 'He's not going to fire me. At least I hope.'

When asked who he would back from the large Democrat field, Barkley said he was considering former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, who was not at the Detroit debate, as well as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Barkley also called out President Trump's recent inflammatory over minority congresswomen dubbed 'the Squad' when he tweeted that they should 'go back... to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came'.

But the basketball star added he was cautious of branding Donald Trump a racist.

NBA legend Barkley criticized the format of the CNN debate for having too many candidates

He said: 'I'm leery of calling people 'racist.' He says some things that can be construed as ''racist''. Some things he's said are very wrong and flagrant.'

Barkley previously campaigned in support of Doug Jones's 2017 Senate bid in Alabama where he said Democrats need 'to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor'.

Earlier this month lawyer Donald Watkins was convicted of swindling $6 million from Barkley as part of a $14 million investment fund.

Watkins also used the name of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bolster the scheme and was sentenced to five years in prison.