Blue Jays rebuke Anthony Santander over deleted social media posts on El Sayed

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander faced public criticism after reposting videos on Instagram attacking United States senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, the New York Post and Fox News reported. The posts targeted El-Sayed following his victory over Republican opponent Mike Rogers in the Michigan midterm election on Tuesday. Santander later deleted the videos, according to Fox News. [1][3]

The New York Post reported that the 32-year-old Santander shared two videos on his Instagram story attacking El-Sayed's Muslim faith. One video featured a caption stating America voted for Sharia, while the second was titled Islam is not peaceful. Fox News reported that one shared video featured a preacher claiming Islam is driven by war, while another video questioned the Michigan Senate election results. [1][3]

The Toronto Blue Jays issued a statement to The Athletic rebuking Santander's posts, saying the content did not reflect the values of the franchise, the New York Post reported. Fox News reported that the team responded without offering an apology or issuing disciplinary action against the player. [1][3]

Santander is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who made his Major League Baseball debut in 2017 and was an All-Star in 2024. El-Sayed is an epidemiology professor, public health administrator, and politician who serves as the senator-elect from Michigan. As FTMQ News reported earlier, El-Sayed previously served as executive director of the Detroit Health Department. [12][13][15]