Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports
A political interview comment about Pete Hegseth's high school sports past sparked a response from his father.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports
Photograph: The Gateway Pundit (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Abdul El-Sayed suggested Pete Hegseth was a benchwarmer in high school sports during an interview.
- Pete Hegseth's father, Brian Hegseth, responded to El-Sayed's comments, calling them "little man syndrome" and "bitter with envy."
- The Gateway Pundit reported Hegseth was an all-state basketball player who played college ball.
- Raw Story noted a Halloween photo posted by Hegseth's father showing Pete in a basketball jersey.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
59/100
Hype
68/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed commented on Pete Hegseth's high school athletic career during an interview with Hasan Minhaj. El-Sayed suggested Hegseth "rode the pine," meaning he spent time on the bench, and that his parents cheered him on enthusiastically. El-Sayed contrasted this with his own experience of parents who were not as supportive.
Pete Hegseth's father, Brian Hegseth, responded to El-Sayed's remarks. He accused El-Sayed of having "little man syndrome" and being "bitter with envy." Raw Story reported that Brian Hegseth, a former high school basketball coach, posted a Halloween photo on X showing himself, his wife Penelope, and Pete Hegseth, who was wearing a basketball jersey.
Disagreement on Hegseth's athletic achievements
Abdul El-Sayed stated that Pete Hegseth "would've rode the pine" and "probably got to start two games his entire career playing whatever sport he was (in)." The Gateway Pundit reported that Hegseth was an all-state basketball player in Minnesota, a valedictorian, and an all-state guard. It added that he played college basketball at Princeton University, earning four varsity letters and appearing in NCAA and NIT tournaments. Raw Story mentioned Hegseth's father posting a Halloween photo with Pete wearing a basketball jersey.
What the coverage left out
None of the reports below mention the specific interview El-Sayed gave, other than that it was with Hasan Minhaj. The context of the interview, beyond the discussion of sports and parents, is not detailed in the provided material.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 2 Nov 2026, 03:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- The single left-rated report, from Raw Story, focused on Pete Hegseth's father posting a Halloween photo. The digest stated that the father "thought he was taking a victory lap" and that critics responded by reminding him what Hegseth's mother wrote about their son. The photo showed Pete Hegseth wearing a Forest Lake basketball jersey and holding a basketball under a hoop.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
7 rated outlets
- Six right-rated reports focused on the exchange between El-Sayed and Brian Hegseth. The Gateway Pundit reported that El-Sayed made "ugly" comments and brought up Hegseth's mother, accusing him of "riding the pine." It detailed Hegseth's high school and college basketball achievements, stating he was an all-state player and played college ball. TrendingPolitics described El-Sayed's comments as a "bizarre, racially-motivated rant." Washington Examiner and Washington Times reported Brian Hegseth's accusation that El-Sayed has "little man syndrome." Twitchy highlighted an old video of El-Sayed's own basketball skills alongside his comments about Hegseth.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 13% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 87% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports biased?
- Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Abdul El-Sayed and Pete Hegseth exchange barbs over high school sports?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Abdul El-Sayed say about Pete Hegseth?
- Abdul El-Sayed suggested that Pete Hegseth was a benchwarmer during his high school sports career, stating he "would've rode the pine" and likely only started a couple of games. El-Sayed also commented on Hegseth's parents' enthusiastic support.
- How did Pete Hegseth's father respond to El-Sayed?
- Pete Hegseth's father, Brian Hegseth, responded by accusing Abdul El-Sayed of having "little man syndrome" and being "bitter with envy." He also defended his son's athletic background.
- What did The Gateway Pundit report about Hegseth's sports career?
- The Gateway Pundit reported that Pete Hegseth was an all-state basketball player in Minnesota and played college basketball at Princeton University. It stated he was an all-state guard and earned four varsity letters.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
7- Hegseth's father: El-Sayed has 'little man syndrome' :: GrabienNews (opens Grabien in a new tab)
- Abdul El-Sayed Goes On Bizarre, Racially-Motivated Rant Against Pete Hegseth And His Family (opens TrendingPolitics in a new tab)
TrendingPolitics — is TrendingPolitics biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Pete Hegseth's father says el Sayed has 'little man syndrome' (opens Washington Examiner in a new tab)
Washington Examiner — is Washington Examiner biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Hegseth's father: El-Sayed has 'little man syndrome' (opens Washington Times in a new tab)
Washington Times — is Washington Times biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Pete Hegseth's Dad Leveled El-Sayed, Then Came the Clips That Finished Him Off (opens RedState in a new tab)
RedState — is RedState biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- OOF! After Trashing Pete Hegseth in Bizarre Rant, Old Video Shows Abdul El-Sayed's Own Hoops Skillz (opens Twitchy in a new tab)
Twitchy — is Twitchy biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- JUST UGLY: Abdul Al-Sayed Brings Up Pete Hegseth’s MOTHER – Says Pete “Probably Rode the Pine” in High School… Hegseth Was All-State in High School, Played College Ball * The Gateway Pundit * by Jim Hoft (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
