The Real Abdul El-Sayed

Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for the US Senate from the state of Michigan on Tuesday.  He will be running against Republican Mike Rogers in the November general election.  What do we know about El-Sayed?  Like all progressive/Leftists, he does not think much of Israel.  He accuses Israel of genocide (which is nonsense - see my 8/5/26 post "The Jew Haters Keep Repeating The 'Genocide' Lie").  And, of course, he wants to cut all aid to Israel, even for defensive systems such as Iron Dome, which saves Israeli lives.  But who cares about them, right?  

Nor does he believe that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.  But I have not found anything to suggest he opposes countries governed by Islamic or Sharia law.  In fact, he has strongly opposed states that have banned Sharia law.  I wonder how many Leftists would make excuses if their daughters had to live under Sharia law.  

Has anyone else listened to El-Sayed's victory speech?  I can best describe it as mean and mean-spirited.  In addressing the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, here is what El-Sayed had to say.  "I know you're going to say no because you're a coward.  Five debates.  All right?  You and I both know that you will wither in front of your own crimes, but I'm gonna make sure all Michiganders know about them.  By the time we're done, you are not going to have safe quarter from people holding you accountable for what you've done."  No safe quarter?  Really?  You looking to have a violent mob act as judge, jury and executioner?  What crimes has Rogers committed?  El-Sayed doesn't say.  But like all good Leftists, the accusations alone prove guilt.  Then punishment follows.  Think Communist Russia (the USSR).

So who are the people in El-Sayed's circle?  Well, his father was the president of the Michigan chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), and a founding member of the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America).  CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terrorism trial.  El-Sayed's wife is a psychiatrist.  It has been reported that her practice does not accept Medicare, Medicaid or even private insurance.  Ironic, in that El-Sayed advocates for universal health insurance coverage.  Maybe not a surprise.  El-Sayed has mocked Mike Rogers for owning property in Florida, while El-Sayed owns property in Dubai and India.  

We also know that El-Sayed is buddies with Hasan Piker, the America-hating and Israel-hating current king maker in the Democratic Party.  Recall that Piker is the guy who said that America deserved 9/11.  El-Sayed excused that by saying it was a dumb statement, and that Piker said he could have phrased it better.  I don't see any better phrasing of "America deserved 9/11."  Especially from someone who has a framed picture of the burning Towers hanging in his home/office.  And, Piker said "it doesn't matter if rape happened on October 7th (2023, during the Hamas attack on Israel).  As for those Democrats who voted for El-Sayed's opponent in the primary, Haley Stevens, Piker said those voters were "unbelievably Islamophobic pieces of shit."  I'd say Mr. Piker does a good job of making people fearful of Muslims.  

What else has El-Sayed said?  Well, he has supported defunding the police.  And, I've noticed that Leftists and Islamists have much in common.  Such as not having fun.  El-Sayed:  "Football is very much associated with a particularly masculine and oftentimes toxically masculine culture."  Would he want to ban football?  Probably, in my opinion.  During a 2018 run for governor, he told a filmmaker who was taking pictures in his home, to not take any pictures of his bookshelves.  One book on the shelf was apparently "Cutting The Fuse" (2010).  That book takes the position that suicide terrorism is caused by foreign military occupation, not by Islamic fundamentalism/extremism.    

The Washington Free Beacon reported that El-Sayed, on his podcast, pushed for people to get a book called "Let This Radicalize You:  Organizing in the Revolution of Reciprocal Care."  The Free Beacon says the book tells people they should not think that violent protests are bad.  As an example, they talk about the George Floyd protests (riots really).  After noting that many people supported supported the protests, the authors say "many fewer people defended the rights of protesters who were arrested for acts of property destruction and funneled into the racist carceral system."  Maybe that is because normal people do not want to see their businesses, their neighbors' businesses and their communities destroyed.  

Here is what else the authors of that book say:  "There is no greater purveyor of violence in the world than the US government.  From war to policing to incarceration to border violence to the slashing of the social safety net, the US government kills untold millions.  The violence of the rebellion is infinitesimal smaller by comparison...The maintenance of global capitalism necessitates mass death."  Now, it's true that the producers of El-Sayed's podcast, those funding it, may have insisted on him pushing this book.  But he maintained the ability to say "no, I will not advocate for such a book."  He did not do so. 

Does anyone not see El-Sayed, and others like him (think Zohran Mamdani), as wolves in sheep's clothing?  As a Trojan horse being offered up as a gift by the Left who support these extremists, with offers of all kinds of free stuff.  In case you were wondering, the so-called mainstream Democrats are on board with these America haters.  Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said:  "I'm very confident we're going to win in Michigan."  Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI):  "I am going to be working very hard to get a Democratic majority in the United States Senate."  

And California Governor, and likely 2028 presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom, who couldn't wait to congratulate El-Sayed on his victory:  "Congratulations Abdul El-Sayed on a hard fought victory.  Trump and the GOP are trying everything to rig the rules and silence voters - but they can't stop a Democratic Party united around working people and accountability."  Ah yes, the "big tent" party - filled with Jew haters and Israel haters and America haters. After all, as Piker said, "it doesn't matter if rape happened on October 7th."         

"As an American Jew, my first political loyalty is to American democracy."

That was the title of an Op-Ed by Jon King in a site called "Michigan Advance," following the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for US Senator in Michigan.  After reading the article, I thought it was a perfect example of those 45% of secular Jews who said they felt no connection to Israel.  But words tell the story far better than a statistic.  (See the 7/21/26 post "I'm Fed Up!  Why Aren't You?  Part I" for a discussion of the 45%.) 

King:  "I'm an American Jew, and my political loyalty is not to Democrats or to Republicans.  It is to American democracy.  Full stop."  Nowhere in this Op-Ed did King happen to mention the name Donald Trump.  But his numerous references to American democracy and a strongman seizing power, made it quite clear he was talking about Trump.  I agree with his sentence, although I would have not thought to add the word "democracy" at the end.  

King goes on to tell us that he was raised in a Jewish household, and celebrated the usual Jewish holidays, such as Passover and Hanukkah.  Then he makes this incredible statement:  "Israel matters to millions of Jews for reasons that are deeply personal and entirely understandable."  Except, he does not appear to share the view of those millions of Jews.  He explains:  "But the United States is the nation whose institutions protect my rights, my neighbors' rights and my children's future."  Okay.  But is he unable to have feelings for more than one entity at a time?  I'd bet he has feelings for more than one family member at a time.  More than one friend at a time.  Could that really be the issue?  Or is he hiding something?

He then expresses his surprise that some Michigan Jews say that they will vote for the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, over El-Sayed, because of El-Sayed's views on Israel and the war with Gaza.  Finally, he tells us his true concern:  "Jewish history is replete with examples of what happens when strongmen seize power."  There it is - the not so subtle reference to Donald Trump.  Trump was elected.  Trump did not seize power.  If King has Hitler in mind as the comparison to Trump, I don't even know what I might say to him.  But I'd start with:  "are Jews being rounded up and sent to concentration camps?"  It is not an answer to say people here illegally are being detained for deportation.  If I recall correctly, wasn't Obama called the "Deporter-in-chief?"  Did Mr. King ever complain about Obama being a "strongman?"  I doubt it.  (As an aside, leftwing Jews are always surprised that any Jew would ever vote for a Republican.  They literally cannot comprehend it.)  

Here's the rest of Mr. King's concerns.  After referring to his "Jewishness," which appears to be more cultural than religious, he says that it should not "obligate Jewish Americans to feel loyalty to a country they likely never lived in and increasingly may not represent the values they were raised with."  And there's the rest of it.  I have zero doubt that, as with many liberal Jews, King equates Netanyahu to Trump.  And hates them both.  Again, without mentioning Netanyahu by name.  What values do you find objectionable, Mr. King?  Does he accuse Israel of committing genocide?  Of being an apartheid state?  Is he upset by Israel defending itself after October 7, 2023, when Hamas committed the worst slaughter of the Jewish people since the Holocaust?  Maybe he objects to Israel having to fight a multi-front war against Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis and Iran, all at the same time, and blames Israel for all of it.  Because he appears to be indifferent to the survival of Israel.   

Clearly, Mr. King feels no religious connection to Israel.  Notwithstanding the thousands of years of connection of the Jewish people to that land.  Notwithstanding that Jerusalem is where the two great Temples stood.  Notwithstanding that is where our patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and our matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca and Leah) are buried - in the Cave of the Patriarchs.  Notwithstanding the frequent reference to Jerusalem in our prayers.  Okay, let's skip all that.  

Let's talk about Israel being a safe haven for the Jewish people.  Let's talk about how the Jewish people around the world celebrated the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.  Because, unlike you, they knew how significant a Jewish state was for the Jewish people.  Israel has taken in Jewish people, not just from Europe after the Holocaust.  But from all over - when the Jews faced persecution and expulsion from other countries.  From all the over the Middle East, when the Arab countries either made life difficult after 1948, or expelled them.  The tiny state of Israel also took in the Ethiopian Jews.  They took in the Russian Jews.  Not sure why I have to explain this, but when Palestinian terrorists hijacked a French airliner filled with Jewish passengers and flew it to Entebbe in Uganda, it wasn't the French who rescued those Jews.  Nor the United States.  It was the tiny state of Israel.  

It isn't that you just feel nothing special for Israel.  You said it yourself.  "I wish the people who live in Israel and the territories it occupies ("occupies" is a telling comment right there) - Jews, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians and everyone else, peace, safety, and dignity, just as I wish those things for people anywhere."  It appears that Mr. King not only feels nothing special for the land of Israel, but also feels nothing special for the Jewish people.  Which is ironic given his earlier statement about "strongmen seizing power."  If that should happen here, where would you propose that the Jewish people flee to for safety, Mr. King?  Not Israel, because in your world there is no Israel.  Then where?