Video Jesse Watters clashes with El-Sayed over sex changes for minors Debate over gender-affirming care for minors intensifies as Jesse Watters challenges Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed argues that healthcare decisions should remain strictly between parents, patients and doctors. Watters strongly objects, questioning the role of parental consent in irreversible surgeries for children during this heated exchange on medical policy.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed addressed questions about sex changes for minors and transgender athletes in women’s sports during a tense exchange on Fox News Monday night.
Speaking on "Jesse Watters Primetime," the progressive candidate and former Detroit Health Department director initially avoided giving direct answers on the issues.
"Sex changes for minors. Do you support that?" asked host Jesse Watters Monday.
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El-Sayed referenced "great conversations" about right-to-try legislation and said he believes the government should not limit the healthcare a person is allowed to receive.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed joined "Jesse Watters Primetime" on Monday. (Fox News)
"I just think the government shouldn't tell you what kind of healthcare you should have and if you're a minor, it's between you and your doctor and your parents," El-Sayed said.
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"If you disagree that healthcare decisions need to be made by a doctor, their parents and a patient, then I just think we agree to disagree. But you know, you want to put government inside a clinic or a hospital selectively," he added.
Watters then asked El-Sayed if he supported cutting off the genitalia of minors. El-Sayed responded by raising circumcision as another example involving parental consent in medical care for children, asking Watters if he himself is circumcised.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed claps during a press conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
"I mean, so do you really want to have this conversation? Are you circumcised?" El-Sayed asked.
"I think it’s a problem that you think that you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor and a patient. And I'm just saying that, yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid's ding-a-ling. So if you really want to bring that up, you can. I just think you guys are really selective about how you want to talk about these things," he later added.
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"Abdul, Michigan's not going for that. That is sick stuff," Watters responded before moving the conversation toward transgender athletes in women’s sports.
El-Sayed initially declined to answer the question, instead saying Watters had not asked about issues "people actually care about in Michigan," including groceries and healthcare.
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker at a party for content creators supporting his campaign, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
"You don’t seem to want to talk about any of those things. You want to bring up all this culture war that, you know, I'm not here to fight a culture war, I’m here to fight the affordability crisis that people are facing," he added.
The pair later returned to transgender athletes in women’s sports, with El-Sayed saying the rules should be "decided by the people who govern sports."
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The tense exchange was part of a wide-ranging segment in which Watters and El-Sayed also went back and forth on wealth taxes, religious freedom and foreign policy, while El-Sayed repeatedly tried to shift focus to working-class economic concerns.
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El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat and is set to face Republican nominee Mike Rogers in November. He earned a doctorate in public health from Oxford University and a medical degree from Columbia University.
Madison Colombo is a writer for Fox News Digital’s Flash, Media, and Culture team, covering daily breaking news and trending topics with an award-winning background in broadcast and digital journalism.
