Former President Barack Obama faced public criticism from NBA player Kyle Kuzma after campaigning in Detroit on Saturday to support Democratic candidates ahead of Michigan’s November midterm elections, with Kuzma arguing that the former president’s emphasis on religious identity did not reflect voter priorities in the state.
Obama appeared at Cass Technical High School to rally support for Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, and other Democratic candidates. During his remarks, Obama highlighted the prospect of having both a Muslim man and a Jewish woman representing Michigan in the U.S. Senate as a point of pride for voters.
Kuzma, a Flint native who won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 before joining the Milwaukee Bucks, used social media to dispute the campaign’s focus. “This desperate psyop is unbearable to watch in Michigan,” Kuzma wrote. “One in four black people in Michigan are below the poverty line and the message is Muslim/Jewish duo is what we’re talking about.”
What Happened
The Milwaukee Bucks forward, now 31, doubled down on his critique by questioning the relevance of religious identity messaging in a state facing economic pressures. “Last thing that Michiganders care about is a religious identity pitch,” he posted. “And on top of that, Michigan is a state where the population of Muslims and Jews are both one percent. What are we talking about?”
Kuzma’s criticism targeted what he viewed as a mismatch between campaign messaging and voter concerns. Recent polling data suggested Michigan voters ranked cost of living alongside immigration, Trump’s political standing, and U.S. policy toward Israel as top considerations in their voting decisions.
El-Sayed, the son of an Egyptian immigrant, held a narrow one-point advantage over Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a late-September Fox News poll—a margin within the survey’s sampling error. Rogers, a former congressman and House Intelligence Committee chairman, had previously run for Michigan’s other Senate seat in 2024.
The Reaction
Obama used the Detroit rally to defend El-Sayed against criticism tied to his Muslim faith, drawing parallels to false claims about Obama’s own background during his presidential campaigns. “They may even use your name or your faith to somehow suggest you are dangerous,” Obama told the crowd. “I have faced similar attacks during my own political career.”
El-Sayed addressed the controversy directly at the rally, emphasizing his patriotism while arguing that criticism of American policies should not be conflated with hostility toward the country. He has repeatedly denied ties to or support for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic organization founded in Egypt in the late 1920s that the United States, Egypt, and other nations have designated a terrorist organization.
Kuzma’s intervention reflected his growing willingness to engage in political and economic commentary beyond basketball. The University of Utah alumnus entered the NBA in 2017 and has increasingly used his platform to address social and policy issues affecting his home state.
What This Means
The criticism underscored ongoing debate over campaign messaging strategy in closely contested states. Michigan’s political landscape has tightened significantly in recent cycles—Trump carried the state in the 2024 presidential election by less than two percentage points, illustrating the state’s status as a swing battleground.
Obama’s late-campaign push through Midwestern states represented a broader Democratic mobilization effort in the final weeks before Election Day. The former president’s decision to emphasize demographic representation and defend candidates against religious-identity attacks reflected Democratic strategy to counter what party officials viewed as discriminatory attacks on Muslim and Jewish candidates.
Whether such messaging resonates with Michigan voters will likely influence not only the outcome of the state’s Senate race but also shape Democratic campaign approaches in economically divided battleground states heading into future elections.
