The Toronto Blue Jays threw their own outfielder under the bus this week after he posted that “America voted for Sharia last night,” rushing out a statement to make clear that Anthony Santander speaks for himself. The 32-year-old slugger shared two videos to his Instagram Story after Tuesday’s midterms, both aimed at Michigan’s new senator, Abdul El-Sayed. Conservatives spent the week taking his side over his club’s.
The posts went up a day after El-Sayed, a Democrat and former Detroit health director, beat Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Santander, a Venezuelan who spent eight seasons in Baltimore before signing with Toronto, shared the clips Wednesday. Screenshots spread on X within hours, and the videos were gone by Thursday.
The first, from an account called the American Truth Project, claimed Muslims elected on Tuesday are radicals who want to impose Sharia law on Congress. It carried the caption “America voted for Sharia last night!” over footage of El-Sayed. A second featured a Christian minister describing Islam as “violent” and “driven by war” and insisting there is “no such thing as kind Muslims.”
The team answered within a day, as the New York Post reported. “Baseball is for everyone, and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs,” the statement read. It didn’t name him, and no discipline was announced.
Omer Osman, co-founder of the Raptors Updates account on X, called the posts extremely disgusting and said he hopes the Blue Jays take appropriate action, per the Toronto Sun. Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s former special representative on combating Islamophobia, wrote on X, per the CBC, “Deleting his posts is not enough — Santander owes fans an apology, and the Blue Jays need to take a stronger stand against Islamophobic hate.”
Toronto has seen this before. The club cut reliever Anthony Bass in 2023 after he promoted boycotts of Bud Light and Target over Pride merchandise, a move GM Ross Atkins framed as a “baseball decision.” Cutting him would cost at least $57.1 million in dead money when adding in his $5 million buyout clause for 2030, per the Post. His play gives the front office cover, as he has appeared in just 54 games with a .175 average since signing and missed all of 2026 after left labral surgery.
Watch the news report on the Blue Jays’ response here:
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The Western Journal argued that if the Blue Jays truly believed in inclusion, they would include those who speak critically about Islam. OutKick, in a piece carried by Fox News, said his Venezuelan upbringing gives the posts context and that it is hard to imagine this pushback had the target been Christianity. RedState dismissed the calls for his release as the work of a social media mob that the team’s statement suggested it would comply with.
The reaction from fans has run the other direction too. “Read all replies to your comment below this post. You will see 99% people agreeing with Santander and not your bs appeasement of Islam cult,” one X user wrote to the club. “I stand with Anthony Santander. Islam is not compatible with civilization,” another commented. “In other words @BlueJays saying you are not allowed to have your own opinion. Disgusting but not unexpected. I stand with Santander,” a third posted.
RedState predicted the club will eventually dress the problem up as another baseball decision. Santander has not publicly addressed the controversy since deleting the posts. He is under contract for three more years, and Atkins told reporters after the season that Toronto still views him as an outfield option for 2027, as Sports Illustrated reported.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.