Democrat socialist Abdul El-Sayed has made a lot of braindead comments regarding football over the years, and throughout his campaign for state senator in Michigan.
El-Sayed once connected American football to toxic masculinity and the transatlantic slave trade, but he's also pandered by embracing the NFL and Detroit Lions in his campaign messaging. In a 2021 essay in response to then Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden, El-Sayed wrote, "The toxic masculinity at the heart of America's most popular sport — and men's sports culture more generally — is way deeper than a few emails."
In separate remarks, he referenced Manifest Destiny, the destruction of Native American communities, and the transatlantic slave trade before saying, "And all of this, like a lot of these narratives, you kind of see echoed in the ethos of football."
On Friday, he took a shot at voters who support the University of Michigan football team.
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El-Sayed and former senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) met with Michigan farmers to discuss issues affecting the industry. They spoke about President Trump's tariff policy, the trade war with Canada, the Iran War, and ICE.
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At the end of the event, El-Sayed pleaded with the farmers to speak with friends and neighbors on the other side of the political aisle, who "made a different political choice" in the last election. He told the few people in the audience to not "indict" those folks for a "bad decision that they can't take back."
He encouraged them to maybe even ditch talking about politics and have a conversation about the weather or "Will (the University of) Michigan ever win a football game without cheating," El-Sayed said with a chuckle in the midst of a couple awkward laughs.
As you can imagine, the internet didn't take too kindly to a Michigan Senate candidate making comments like this.
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Michigan superfan & founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy said, "This guy really is a terrorist."
El-Sayed's opponent Mike Rogers responded to the controversy, quoting Portnoy's post saying, "@StoolPresidente is exactly right."
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Others mentioned El-Sayed's comments were unforgivable for a Michigan alum. Some said he "lost votes."
My advice to El-Sayed: Please keep talking about football. It's great for Rogers' chances.