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During a meeting with Michigan farmers, Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed joked that the University of Michigan football team could never win without cheating, a comment that sparked backlash online and from his opponent Mike Rogers. The article highlights how El-Sayed’s remarks about football have been inconsistent throughout his campaign, ranging from critical comments on masculinity in sports to more supportive stances when it suits his political messaging.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat Senate candidate in Michigan, made light-hearted comments during a meet-and-greet with farmers about University of Michigan football, joking that they might win without cheating. The remarks came as part of a broader discussion on issues like President Trump's tariff policies, the trade war with Canada, and immigration enforcement by ICE. El-Sayed has previously criticized American football for promoting toxic masculinity and connecting it to historical injustices such as Manifest Destiny and the transatlantic slave trade. Despite these criticisms, he has also used support for local sports teams like the Detroit Lions in his campaign messaging.
Written for “Michigan Football Cheating Joke” on 2026-10-11,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans strongly right for article 71050 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-11
Claims extracted
14
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 14 hedged
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
69.6
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
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.
asserted
Sayed → make → 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.
asserted
he → connect → 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."
asserted
masculinity → write → 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."
asserted
you → reference → football
On Friday, he took a shot at voters who support the University of Michigan football team.
asserted
who → take → team
El-Sayed and former senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) met with Michigan farmers to discuss issues affecting the industry.
asserted
Sayed → meet → industry
They spoke about President Trump's tariff policy, the trade war with Canada, the Iran War, and ICE.
asserted
They → speak → Canada
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.
asserted
who → plead → election
He told the few people in the audience to not "indict" those folks for a "bad decision that they can't take back.
asserted
they → tell → that
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.
asserted
Sayed → encourage → laughs
As you can imagine, the internet didn't take too kindly to a Michigan Senate candidate making comments like this.
asserted
candidate → imagine → this
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."
asserted
@StoolPresidente → say → post
Others mentioned El-Sayed's comments were unforgivable for a Michigan alum.
asserted
comments → mention → alum
Some said he "lost votes."
asserted
he → say → votes
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