Screenshot via Abdul El-Sayed Facebook.
Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed dared his Trump-endorsed rival Mike Rogers (R) to a game of tackle football Wednesday – “no pads” – in lieu of the unanswered “five debates” challenge he’d laid down for the Republican last week in his primary victory speech.
The offer came as El-Sayed reacted to Rogers’ appearance on Fox News’ Hannity Tuesday night, where the Republican attacked him over new reporting that uncovered old YouTube videos of the Democratic nominee “hating on” fireworks, July 4th and football.
Speaking to Sean Hannity about the report, Rogers said: “This guy spent hours hating on what most Michiganders would enjoy in their pastimes and he should be held to account for that. These are views that he held and he was pretty strong about but he knew that he had to delete them all, for if people really knew who he was they wouldn’t vote for him.”
El-Sayed took to X the next day to fire back at the callout, accusing Rogers of being “too afraid to debate” him and daring the Republican to hold him “accountable” on the football field.
“I’d be happy to show you [how] much I love football,” the Democrat quipped.
Rogers had been referring to a report published earlier in the day on CNN’s KFile which published details on El-Sayed’s videos, some of which have since been deleted, including one clip, which reportedly remains online, where he questions whether football can be considered “safe” and “ethical.”
In another July 2024 clip the Democratic nominee declared that “fireworks suck” and urged Americans to find another way to celebrate July 4, citing concerns with pollution, pets and people with PTSD.
Other videos showed El-Sayed downplaying the southern border as a top concern for Americans and musing about replacing the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms with a right to health care.
A spokeswoman for El-Sayed trashed the reporting as “cherry-picked” on Tuesday, telling The New York Times: “Abdul is the former captain of his high school football team, loves Michigan football on Saturdays, and celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks like the next Michigander. Cherry-picked comments from old podcasts don’t reflect his beliefs today.”
The post Abdul El-Sayed Dares GOP Rival to Game of Tackle Football in Lieu of Debate: ‘No Pads’ first appeared on Mediaite.
