Nike’s stock price hit a 12-year low on Monday, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says he knows why. In a post on X, Cruz blamed the company’s marketing choices, which he described as built on “America-hate,” for the drop. Cruz was responding to a post from Douglass Mackey, who listed several reasons he believes Nike has struggled. These included making Colin Kaepernick “the face” of a major ad campaign, canceling a sneaker featuring the Betsy Ross flag in 2019, and working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Cruz said the Betsy Ross shoe cancellation was what finally pushed him away from the brand after years of buying its products. Cruz says he switched brands after years as a loyal customer In his post, Cruz described how his view of Nike changed over time. “For my whole life, I wore nearly 100% Nike for athletic wear,” he wrote. He said the Kaepernick campaign bothered him, but it was the canceled Betsy Ross shoe that changed how he saw the company’s overall approach. Sad & predictable.@nike lost me at #2.For my whole life, I wore nearly 100% Nike for athletic wear.Kaepernick pissed me off, but when they cancelled the Betsy Ross shoe it showed that their marketing plan was America-hate.I went out & bought brand new shoes, shorts,… https://t.co/QpgqtCrScf— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 18, 2026 “Kaepernick p****d me off, but when they cancelled the Betsy Ross shoe it showed that their marketing plan was America-hate. I went out & bought brand new shoes, shorts, [and] t-shirts,” Cruz wrote. He added that he was not alone in making that choice. “Turns out I wasn’t the only one. #GoWokeGoBroke,” he wrote. Cruz has weighed in on other economic topics recently, including how the Iran conflict could affect gas prices. Mediaite points out that Nike’s stock has dropped nearly 50% over the past year, now trading at $40.10 per share. The decline goes back further than that. Shares are down 78% from the company’s all-time high of $179.10, which it hit in November 2021. The reasons behind Nike’s stock slide have been debated by investors, Wall Street analysts, and customers. Some point to the Kaepernick and Mulvaney partnerships as reasons conservative shoppers have moved away from the brand, similar to the explanation Cruz gave. Others say the drop has more to do with product quality. Critics have said Nike’s shoes are less innovative than they used to be, and that the company has leaned too heavily on reissuing older, retro designs instead of releasing new ones. Some observers have also pointed to Nike’s longtime sponsored athletes, such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, growing older and possibly less popular with younger shoppers than they once were. Nike’s struggles come at a time when the broader economy has been a frequent topic in Washington, including debate over how strong the economy really is. Ethan Strauss, a former ESPN reporter, wrote about Nike’s direction back in 2021 on his Substack page. Strauss argued that Nike had moved away from the marketing approach that built the brand into a major success, one that focused on competitive figures like Michael Jordan and appealed mainly to young men. He wrote that the company shifted instead toward ads centered on diversity, a change he described as a mistake. One factor that has worked in Nike’s favor is its sponsorship deal with WNBA star Caitlin Clark. However, the company waited three years after signing her before releasing her first signature shoe.