Former President Barack Obama is making headlines again, but not in a good way.
Milwaukee Bucks forward and NBA champion Kyle Kuzma sharply criticized Obama’s campaign message in Michigan over the weekend, arguing that voters in his home state care more about economic problems than the religious identities of their elected officials.
Kuzma, a Flint native, responded after Obama traveled to Detroit on Saturday to campaign for left-wing Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, and other Democrats ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
During the rally at Cass Technical High School, Obama highlighted the prospect of El-Sayed serving alongside Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, pointing specifically to El-Sayed’s Muslim faith and Slotkin’s Jewish faith.
Obama described the two senators as a potential “power duo” and told the audience that having a Muslim man and Jewish woman representing Michigan in the Senate was something voters could be proud of.
“This desperate pysop (sic) is unbearable to watch in Michigan. so tired of listening to it,” Kuzma wrote. “1 in 4 black people in Michigan are below the poverty line and the message is Muslim/jewish duo is what we’re talking about.
The 31-year-old basketball player argued that economic hardship should receive more attention, pointing specifically to poverty among black residents of Michigan and questioning why religious representation was being emphasized during a closely contested election.
“Last thing that Michiganders care about is a religious identity pitch. And on top of that Michigan is a state where the population of Muslims and Jews are both 1 percent. What are we talking about.”
Kuzma’s criticism was notable because he grew up in Flint and has increasingly used his social-media presence to comment on political, economic and cultural issues beyond basketball.
The former University of Utah standout entered the NBA in 2017 and won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 before eventually joining the Milwaukee Bucks.
His criticism also came as Michigan voters consistently identify economic concerns as important factors in their decisions ahead of Election Day.
A Fox News poll conducted in late September found that cost of living ranked among the issues Michigan voters considered extremely important in deciding their Senate vote, alongside immigration, President Donald Trump and U.S. policy toward Israel.
Look at how short Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) is compared to Barack Hussein Obama (@BarackObama).
Again, I think Abdul is a South Pole elf. https://t.co/8vud98D83C
— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) October 24, 2026
That same September 30 Fox News poll showed El-Sayed holding a one-point advantage over Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a margin narrow enough to fall within the survey’s sampling error.
Rogers, a former congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, narrowly lost Michigan’s other Senate race to Slotkin in 2024 before returning this year to compete for the state’s open seat.
Trump carried Michigan in the 2024 presidential election by less than two percentage points, further demonstrating how closely divided the state has become in major statewide contests.
Obama’s Detroit appearance was part of a broader Democratic push to mobilize voters during the final days of the campaign, with the former president traveling through Midwestern battlegrounds to support Democratic candidates.
Obama also defended El-Sayed against political attacks involving his Muslim faith, drawing comparisons to false claims about Obama’s own birthplace and religion during his presidential campaigns.
“They may even use your name or your faith to somehow suggest you are dangerous,” Obama told the crowd, saying he had faced similar attacks during his own political career.
El-Sayed, the son of an Egyptian immigrant, used the rally to emphasize his own patriotism while arguing that criticism of American policies should not be confused with hostility toward the country.
He has denied ties to or support for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group founded in Egypt in the late 1920s that has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Egypt, and other countries.