Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed seems bound and determined to be the most hated left-wing politician in America as he continues to project a petty, childish image on the national stage by launching ego-driven attacks against Republicans. His latest target is Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his family, going on a long rant that was rooted in anti-white racism.
El-Sayed made an appearance on the Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know podcast, he described Hegseth as the type of high school athlete who “would have rode the pine.” The insult was framed with high school sports, which is something El-Sayed has become known for over the election cycle. “He probably got to start two games his entire career playing whatever sport it was and it made his life and his parents came and cheered so hard for him,” the Democratic nominee for Senate said.
And as a kid whose parents never came right and started every game, part of me is just like, bro, I feel bad for you,” he rambled on. “Somebody told you you’re a lot better than you really are. Like there’s something about being a brown kid whose parents like, you know, no matter what you do, you’re never enough.”
According to a report from Trending Politics News, El-Sayed went on to slam him for having his parents support as a kid growing up, which is an odd choice that many feel reveals the bitter jealousy the Michigan Democrat has for the life Hegseth enjoyed. “So you’re just like, oh, but for him, the very fact that he made the team, his mom was making cake,” he said during the podcast.
“She was wearing his jersey. She had a cap made for him… You know the type. So I’m like, bro, you grew up thinking that you were somehow special, but you are not,” he added. “And you have been living off that fume for the rest of your life. Could you imagine what we would have become if we had supportive parents who just uplifted us for being mediocre?”
Despite the strange rant from El-Sayed, Hegseth was actually an accomplished athlete in high school. He was an all-conference and all-state basketball player at Forest Lake Area High School in Minnesota, where he managed to set three-point shooting records and helped the team reach the state tournament. Hegseth also lettered in football and later joined the team at Princeton University.
El-Sayed’s comments are part of a long and established record of statements that have been interpreted as reflecting deep racial resentment for white people. In a now-deleted post from 2021, he referred to border agents as “white supremacists” when they appeared in a disputed photograph showing them intercepting migrants.
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“How about asking how our policies decimate Caribbean & Central American (and so many other) countries—and why we allow white supremacists to police our borders?” El-Sayed wrote at the time. In another deleted post from the same time period, El-Sayed said that “the fact that cops kill Black folks so regularly tells us who society considers part of the ‘public’ & from whom they are to be kept safe. It’s not just a few bad cops — it’s an entire SYSTEM of white supremacy.”
El-Sayed went on this bizarre rant against Pete Hegseth — claiming that Hegseth "rode the pine" in "whatever sport he played" in high school.
He invoked Hegseth's mother (moms are fair game now, huh?), and claimed she was "the type" who would have worn her son's jersey to… pic.twitter.com/YEucHwxyWb
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 30, 2026
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video