NBA champ takes issue with Obama's pitch to Michigan voters amid hotly contested Senate race
NBA player Kyle Kuzma criticized former President Barack Obama for focusing on the religious identities of Michigan Senate candidates during a campaign rally. Kuzma argued that voters are more concerned with economic issues like poverty than the religious background of their representatives.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the tension between identity-based political messaging and the economic priorities of working-class voters in swing states.
Kyle Kuzma, a one-time NBA champion and current Milwaukee Bucks forward, pushed back on former President Barack Obama’s glowing remarks about Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Saturday. Obama was at a rally in support of El-Sayed, who is up against Mike Rogers. The former president raised the possibility of El-Sayed and Slotkin as a "power duo" in the Senate, remarking on El-Sayed and Slotkin’s religious beliefs. El-Sayed is a Muslim and Slotkin is Jewish. THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW! Kuzma, who is from Flint, Michigan, wrote on X that the last thing anyone from Michigan cares about is what religion their representatives in D.C. practice. "This desperate pysop (sic) is unbearable to watch in Michigan. so tired of listening to it," Kuzma wrote.
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