Even "The Greatest" can't avoid becoming political fodder
Journalist Jason Rezaian spent a year and a half in Iranian prisons, for a while seeming like a hopeless casualty in a massive geopolitical struggle. And then in 2015 the late Muhammad Ali spoke, calling for his release.
Rezaian wrote Saturday that since "The Greatest" is revered in Iran, several prison guards started to treat him with more respect.
"That Muhammad Ali, a black Muslim, is one of our great national icons speaks to what is right about this country," he wrote.
Ali spent much of his life as one of the most recognizable people on the planet, let alone in America, where blacks and Muslims find themselves front and center of a tumultuous election season. So in many ways, it was almost unavoidable that Ali would become part of the political discussion.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has famously called for a ban on Muslims attempting to enter the United States, and has issued controversial comments about race.
Before his passing, Ali himself spoke out against Trump's presidential campaign, slamming his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
"True Muslims know the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion," Ali said in a statement. "I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
So far, however, when talking about Ali's passing, Trump has avoided saying anything extreme, despite earlier in the campaign questioning whether there were any American Muslim athletes that could be called heroes.
The remaining Democratic candidates for president also spoke glowingly of the late boxing champ initially, but they've also not hesitated to use his image to slam Trump's views.
Campaigning in California on Saturday ahead of the state's critical primary, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton remembered Ali with a subtle jab against the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Clinton said the U.S. is a country "where people can break down barriers, where they can worship their own God, where they can choose their own name."
Democrat Bernie Sanders also commemorated Ali with a jab at Trump: "He is, you know, what a hero, what a great man, and I say to all the people who are intimidated, and I've been all over the country and talk to Muslim people who say, 'You know, Bernie, our kids are now afraid.' I say to those people, one of the great American heroes in modern history was the great Muhammad Ali, a very proud Muslim. And don't tell us how much you love Muhammad Ali, and yet you're going to be prejudiced against Muslims in the country."
The Vermont senator also spoke directly to the conflict Ali's faith presents many Americans.
"To all of our Donald Trumps supporters who tell us that they love Muhammad Ali but say they hate Muslims - understand Ali was a devout Muslim that took his faith very seriously," Sanders said at an event at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, according to ABC News.
President Obama largely avoided discussing Ali's Muslim faith in context of the modern debate, but did praise the Kentucky-born Ali, who not only made his name as a heavyweight boxing champion but also drew praise (and criticism) with his outspoken stances on civil rights and the Vietnam War and his public conversion to Islam.
"That's the Ali I came to know as I came of age - not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right. A man who fought for us," the president wrote. "He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing."
Other politicians who weighed in on the passing of Ali were also largely circumspect when it comes to the modern debate on Muslims.
Former President George W. Bush, who awarded the boxing superstar the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, wrote on Instagram: "Americans will always be proud to have been in his corner and called him one of our own."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Ali as "one of the preeminent and most beloved athletes of the 20th century."