Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom mulling run for office
Freedom would like to be a member of Congress 'when the time is right'
Enes Kanter Freedom on his human rights activism: ‘This is bigger than basketball’
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom joined ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss the NBA and its strategic partnership with fintech company Ant Group in China.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom issued a major announcement during his appearance on "Mornings with Maria," Thursday, declaring that he is officially considering running for public office.
Freedom said that "when the time is right," he would like to become a member of Congress.
"I will [run for office] actually, when that when the time is right. And shout out to, you know, whoever is out there listening. Yeah, of course. I would love to," Freedom told host Maria Bartiromo.
Enes Kanter Freedom said he is considering a run for office on "Mornings with Maria." ( (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
When Bartiromo asked Freedom whether he has started raising money for his potential campaign, he answered: "Not yet."
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"I haven't started yet. But I started out conversations with some of my friends and members of Congress," he said.
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Freedom was born in Turkey but was later exiled over his support for Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish religious cleric living in exile in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
He had his passport revoked by the Turkish embassy in 2017 during a layover in Romania. In 2021, he became a U.S. citizen and officially changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom in celebration of his American citizenship.
In apparent retaliation, the Turkish government issued a $500,000 bounty for the former NBA players' capture this year.
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Since entering the public eye, Freedom has remained outspoken about various geopolitical issues, specifically China's human rights abuses as well as Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan’s fight for freedom.
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He has been persistently forthright on his opposition for China, railing against the government over the treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
Freedom was a former center for the Boston Celtics. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Former CIA officer Mike Baker joined "Mornings with Maria," Thursday, asking Freedom whether he has had any regrets for shifting his focus away from his basketball career.
Freedom confidently said, "A lot of people actually ask me this question, 'you've lost millions of dollars, you lost your career' and stuff. But people need to understand this is bigger than myself. This is bigger than me."
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"Whenever I sit down and have a conversation with those Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese people – we call them Mongolians and Falun Gong – and whenever I hear what they're going through, I was like, you know what? This is just bigger than basketball and I cannot just stay silent," he concluded.
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FOX Business' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.