Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed suggested that the University of Michigan football team could not win a game without cheating during a recent event with state farmers. The remark, delivered with a chuckle, drew immediate criticism from supporters of the university and his political opponent, Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed was speaking at the end of a meeting with Michigan farmers alongside former senator Debbie Stabenow. The group had discussed several issues affecting the agricultural industry, including President Trump's tariff policy, the trade war with Canada, the Iran War, and immigration enforcement by ICE. Before concluding the gathering, El-Sayed urged the attendees to engage in conversation with friends and neighbors who supported a different political choice in the last election. He advised them not to "indict" those individuals for a "bad decision that they can't take back."
In an effort to lighten the mood, El-Sayed proposed that these conversations might avoid politics entirely, focusing instead on the weather or the state of the local football program. He asked, "Will (the University of) Michigan ever win a football game without cheating," according to reports of the event. The comment was met with awkward laughter from the small audience present.
The statement quickly generated backlash online, particularly among Michigan sports fans. Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports and a noted Michigan supporter, reacted harshly to the candidate's joke. Portnoy described El-Sayed as a "terrorist" in response to the remarks. Mike Rogers, El-Sayed's opponent in the race for the Michigan Senate seat, amplified Portnoy's reaction on social media. Rogers quoted Portnoy's post and added that he was "exactly right."
This incident follows a series of controversial comments El-Sayed has made regarding American football throughout his political career. In a 2021 essay responding to then Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden, El-Sayed wrote that the "toxic masculinity at the heart of America's most popular sport" runs deeper than isolated incidents. In other remarks, he connected the ethos of football to broader historical narratives, including Manifest Destiny, the destruction of Native American communities, and the transatlantic slave trade. Despite these critiques, El-Sayed has also embraced NFL franchises and the Detroit Lions in his campaign messaging to appeal to voters.