Blue Jays Outfielder Santander Shares, Then Deletes Anti-Muslim Videos: Team Says Individual Comments Do Not Represent Its Values
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander shared two videos to the Stories of his Instagram account on November 4, both concerning Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who had just been elected to the U.S. Senate. The videos were later deleted, but screenshots spread widely across social media. On November 5, the Blue Jays issued a statement saying that individual comments do not represent the organization's values and beliefs.
According to TSN and USA Today, one of the videos claimed that Sharia law would be coming to the United States following El-Sayed's election, and screenshots showed a caption reading "America voted for Sharia last night." In the other video, a Christian preacher described Islam as "not peaceful" and said there is "no such thing as kind Muslims." The Comeback reported that the first video was reshared from an account called The American Truth Project (@theamericantruthproject), which claimed that the Muslims elected on Tuesday are radicals who want to impose Sharia law in the United States; the video included an image of El-Sayed.
El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in the November 3 midterm elections to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Santander shared the videos in the immediate aftermath of the results.
USA Today reported that both Stories were gone from Santander's account by Thursday night. Stories normally disappear automatically after 24 hours, but multiple social media users said the videos were deleted before they expired, and screenshots were widely reshared, drawing criticism from fans and public figures.
"Baseball is for everyone, and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark," a team spokesperson said in the statement. "Individual comments do not represent our organization's values and beliefs." According to The Comeback and Fox News, the team did not announce any discipline for Santander and did not issue an apology on his behalf; as of publication, Santander himself had not publicly apologized or responded.
Amira Elghawaby, Canada's former special representative on combatting Islamophobia, posted on X on November 5 that deleting the posts was not enough, that Santander owed fans an apology, and that the Blue Jays needed to take a stronger stand against Islamophobic hate and be transparent about how they plan to make it right.
Santander, 32, is a native of Venezuela who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Baltimore Orioles and was an All-Star in 2024. He signed a five-year, $92.5 million contract with the Blue Jays in January 2025 but has played only 54 games since because of injuries; he missed the entire 2026 season after labral surgery on his left shoulder, and an attempted return during the season was aborted when he felt something in the shoulder. Three years and more than $57 million remain on his contract.
Source: Anthony Santander on Instagram
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 安东尼·桑坦德本人资料图（2018年5月12日摄于巴尔的摩金莺队时期，Keith Allison摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons）
