Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Iowa Democrat Josh Turek in his U.S. Senate campaign, releasing a video that features the two playing wheelchair basketball while highlighting Turek's background as a Paralympian and public servant.
During the endorsement, Obama praised Turek's commitment to public service and reflected on their shared time on the basketball court, drawing renewed public attention to Turek's campaign and to spina bifida, the congenital condition he has lived with since birth. The endorsement also revisited the wheelchair basketball game the two previously played together, an event that underscored the athleticism and competitiveness of adaptive sports. Turek, a decorated Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, has often spoken about how sports shaped his life and demonstrated that disability does not prevent individuals from pursuing athletic, professional, or public service goals.
