This Will Play Well in Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed Says Football Is 'Toxic Masculinity'

Aug 11, 2026 11:45 AM
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This Will Play Well in Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed Says Football Is 'Toxic Masculinity'
AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Michiganders love their football, and as we inch closer to the NFL and college seasons, Abdul El-Sayed has decided to target one of the nation's most popular sporting events. El-Sayed says football is associated with a "toxically masculine" culture. That assertion can be seen in a new light after El-Sayed deleted hundreds of campaign videos, including ones where he said football has ties to slavery and 

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Unfortunately, the Substack post in question is now private, but here's more from The Midwesterner:

Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has argued “toxic masculinity” is at the heart of American football and described racism, misogyny and homophobia as commonplace in the sport’s culture despite spending years playing football himself.

El-Sayed made the comments in a 2021 Substack post responding to the resignation of then-Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, whose emails containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic language had recently become public.

“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 or a Jay-Z turnaround,” El-Sayed wrote.

El-Sayed played football growing up and was a captain and two-year starter at Bloomfield Hills’s tony Andover High School.

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The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) despise everything that makes America great.

He's wrong for Michigan and wrong for America.

Of course they do.

The Left ruins everything they touch.

Yeah, not at all.

That's the problem. The people voting for El-Sayed think football is toxic.

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He has yet to grow up and get over it.

The Left wants to destroy American culture, and they won't stop until they do.

Probably all of them.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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