How Tall is Abdul El-Sayed Really?

How tall is Abdul El-Sayed? It seems like a simple question. A man’s height is a measurable quantity, objective and irrefutable. In the age of looksmaxxing and height mogging, however, it’s taken on new importance, with many resorting to “frauding,” or “height fishing” to seem taller than they are.

Abdul claims he’s 5’9”, the average height for men in America. Our research places him closer to 5’5”, maybe 5’6” in shoes on a good day.

Let’s first take a look at what Abdul has said publicly about his height, and then compare it to some photographic evidence.

As a member of U-M’s Division II Lacrosse Club team in 2006, Abdul listed his height at 5’9”.

Athletic records like this are self reported, and notorious for height inflation. College athletes hoping to enter the pros have long been known to give themselves a few extra inches, hoping for a bit more scouting attention.

More recently, after a brutal height mogging courtesy of socialist podcaster Hasan Piker, Abdul took to X to claim, bizarrely, that while some think his aura gives 6’7”, he’s actually 5’9”. In shoes.

This is, of course, the short guy equivalent of when a bald guy refuses to be seen in public without a hat. Clinging to that 5’9” label, but only in his high top sneakers. You have to wonder whether he’s wearing height inserts in there, too.

Sorry, but you don’t get to include footwear in your true height. Perhaps Dr. El-Sayed would know this if he’d ever actually practiced medicine.

Bottom line, Abdul claimed in college that he’s 5’9”, and more recently has stated that he’s essentially a soft 5’9” in shoes. That’s his claim, and he’s sticking to it.

Now, let’s take a look at some photographic evidence.

Photographed next to 5’6” rapper Charlamagne tha God, Abdul appears roughly equivalent in height. Looking at their footwear, you can see that Charlamagne is wearing flat sandals, with roughly zero height boost. Abdul has on his signature high top sneakers with thick chunky soles, giving him a height boost of at least 1-2 inches.

Given that photo, and the footwear choices, giving Abdul the 5’6” label might even be generous. There, he seems more like 5’5”.

Next, we have a photograph of Abdul posing next to Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin. This one gets complicated, so buckle in.

First, we have Abdul standing to the left of the Congressman, with his right foot on a roughly 1” downslope. We can estimate his height plainly here, measured next to the bricks in Ann Arbor’s graffiti alley.

We count 24 standard bricks behind the wannabe Senator. A set of three standard bricks, with mortar, totals out at 8 inches, giving the 24 bricks a rough height of 64 inches, 5’4”. Being generous, and giving him an extra inch due to the sloping ground, this places Abdul’s height (in shoes) around 5’5”.

Congressman Raskin, pictured next to him, claims his own height at 6’1”. Notice the sloping floor, however. Abdul is perched perfectly atop a higher vantage point—Clavicular’s influence, no doubt.

Raskin’s lower foot is roughly two rows of bricks lower than Abdul’s, a bit less than 6 inches, and he still stands roughly 2 inches taller than El-Sayed. So that’s Raskin’s 73 inches, minus 6 inches, bringing him to 67 inches, standing 2 inches taller than Abdul’s estimated 65 inches.

The math checks out for a 6’1” man standing next to a 5’5” man, given the sloping ground.

Given the photographic evidence, we’re comfortable estimating that Abdul El-Sayed is not, in fact, 5’9”, not even in shoes. He’s more likely a true height of 5’5”, maybe 5’6” in shoes on a good day, if we’re being generous.

Before his campaign criticizes us for promoting toxic masculinity, or El-Sayed’s supporters facetiously comment about whether his height even matters, it’s worth noting that Abdul himself loves to criticize other guys for their height.

During the last Mackinac Policy Conference, Abdul had some notable banter with Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall on the porch of the Grand Hotel. He chirped at him, “You know, I'm gonna tell you the same thing they tell me. You're a lot shorter than I thought you would be.”

He asked Hall how tall he is, to which Hall said, “probably six foot.” Abdul replied, “You’re six-foot? You are definitely not six-foot. You’re six-foot in the way Donald Trump has big hands.”

The thing is, that exchange might actually be the most human moment Abdul’s had on the entire campaign trail. Banter, or “breaking balls” as they call it on “The Sopranos,” is a time-tested ritual for male relationships. You hit your buddy with a little verbal jab, just to see how he responds, to see if he’s man enough to poke you back.

Regardless, Abdul himself showed there that calling out political figures for suspected height fishing is fair game. We’re happy to keep up that spirited tradition.

Abdul El-Sayed is not 5’9”, despite what he says. He’s several inches shorter, at the very least. Until he has his height publicly measured, by a bipartisan committee of doctors (who have actually practiced medicine), we’ll stand by our claim here definitively.

Mike Rogers, by the way, is 6’2”. We’ll see if that makes the difference come November.