Bernie Sanders
Role at the time: U.S. Senator (I-VT)
Statement summary
Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized Robert Kraft over Macklemore's tour removal, saying "billionaire stadium owners should not be able to silence artists because they speak out on political issues."
“In the United States of America, billionaire stadium owners should not be able to silence artists because they speak out on political issues. Today it is the genocide in Gaza. What's next? If they can silence one artist, they can silence anyone.”
TheWrap roundup including Sen. Bernie Sanders's X post criticizing Robert Kraft over Macklemore's tour removal.
Why we used this label
On Macklemore's MetLife message and conduct, Sanders argues that speaking out should not have cost the artist his place on the tour, and adopts Macklemore's own characterization of Gaza as a genocide. That treats the conduct under scrutiny as acceptable. His criticism of Robert Kraft is the target of the remark, not the case position: the removal is the consequence he rejects, not the conduct this case examines. Amended by classification correction 321.