NCAA Sweet 16 Team finds itself in the middle of political migrant controversy

It's a hot button political topic — but not one that involves this team.

Mar 30, 2024 - 02:30

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NCAA Sweet 16 Team finds itself in the middle of political migrant controversy

March Madness is in full swing as the Men's division is halfway through the Sweet 16 while the Women tip off that round tonight.

The venues where the games take place change as we get deeper into the tournament. For the women, they play in the home arena of the higher seeded team — while the men play at neutral sites starting from the Round of 64, and change venues entering the Sweet 16.

One of the venues for the Men's Sweet 16 is Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. So it should be no surprise to see that on Thursday, March 28, several buses pulled up in Detroit holding the members of the Gonzaga Bulldogs Men's Basketball Team.

Wheels up to the Motor City ✈️ pic.twitter.com/CMnxblJC5k— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 27, 2024

But that's not what one Michigan state representative thought.

Matt Maddock, a Republican state representative for the 51st district, sent out a tweet to question that buses, roping it in to a hot button political issue.

"Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro," Maddock's post read. "Anyone have any idea where they're headed with their police escort?"

Maddock was quick to be corrected by X (formerly Twitter) users that the buses were not filed with "illegal invaders" but instead men's basketball players who play in the state of Washington and were likely coming from their last two games that were played in Utah.

But even after a note included onto the viral post corrected Maddock's comment, the state representative did not back down from his thoughts. He replied to his own tweet and didn't deny his claim, instead continuing to point out that the issue of migrants exists in his state.

We know this is happening. 100,000’s of illegals are pouring into our country. We know it’s happening in Michigan. Our own governor is offering money to take them in! Since we can’t trust the #FakeNews to investigate, citizens will. The process of investigating these issues takes…— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) March 28, 2024

Maddock even called an X user a "kommie," which is short for communist, when corrected that the buses were filed with the Bulldogs basketball team.

Sure they are kommie— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) March 28, 2024

Michigan and its governor, Gretchen Whitmer, have been open to the entry of migrants into the state, a topic that has divided the country and is a pressing issues for the 2024 elections.

However, Maddock's misleading post seems counterintuitive to his supposed principles concerning "#FakeNews," especially considering that he has yet to remove the viral post and continues to hammer on the topic.

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