El-Sayed Seeks Jewish Democrat Support Amidst Rival Criticism

Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed spent the weekend trying to repair fences with Jewish Democrats in Michigan. His Republican rival dismissed his recent remarks as a "sham apology." The scene played out on Saturday before the Michigan Democrats' Jewish Caucus and during an interview with Fox News Digital. El-Sayed apologized for comments made after a March attack on a suburban Detroit synagogue. He pushed back, however, when asked to repudiate controversial statements from incendiary left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. That streamer is a strong supporter of his campaign.

El-Sayed faces off against former Rep. Mike Rogers in the Great Lakes battleground state for an open Senate seat Democrats must hold. The election comes as they aim to win back control of the chamber. This contest follows El-Sayed's narrow primary victory over more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens in what was a divisive intraparty showdown. That win arguably marked the biggest victory to date for the left in its battle against the establishment for the ideological future of the Democratic Party. He appeared at the state party's nominating convention in Lansing, Michigan, trying to unify Democrats after the primary battle.

Fox News Digital pressed El-Sayed on a recent controversy stemming from his comments regarding an attack on a Michigan synagogue. Federal investigators say a gunman inspired and radicalized by Hezbollah crashed into that place of worship seeking to kill as many Jewish people as he could. The alleged attacker was a Lebanese-born man who had lost relatives in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon just a week earlier.

"Hurt people, hurt people," El-Sayed said in response to the attack. Members of his own party criticized him, including Michigan Secretary of State Dana Nessel. She discussed the comments in a recent interview with The Atlantic and declined to attend this past weekend's convention partly over concerns of antisemitism in the Democratic Party.

El-Sayed told Fox News Digital his comments "might have been misconstrued to be justifying something I did not intend to justify," but then offered an apology. To anybody who feels like my comments may have been hurtful, I'm really sorry. That was not my intention. We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned it outright. What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn't the time for context and you don't ever want to trample somebody's pain.

El-Sayed is an epidemiologist and former Wayne County Health Department director. If elected in November, he would make history as the nation's first Muslim senator. He has argued against unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, as have other progressive politicians. And El-Sayed has repeatedly declined to directly answer whether Israel has the right to exist.

His message to Jewish voters in Michigan is clear. We may not agree on everything when it comes to foreign policy... I'm not going to stop fighting for Palestinian self-determination... but that does not mean that I will not stand up… for safety for all communities and I believe in the safety and dignity of Jewish kids like I believe in the safety and dignity of my own kids.

Before taking questions from reporters, El-Sayed met in Lansing with the state's Democratic Jewish Caucus. He just had a very good meeting with us, Daniel Rivkin told Fox News Digital. Rivkin is a convention delegate and member of the caucus.

We're having real conversations." The Fox News poll just dropped for this huge Senate matchup in Michigan. Details are emerging fast on Monday as the El-Sayee campaign moves to hire a Jewish liaison. Yet some Jewish leaders pushed back hard on Saturday with an open letter. They urged Democratic voters and independents across the state to sign up for Rogers instead. Rogers is launching his second straight bid after losing by exactly 20,000 votes in 2024.

The letter laid out their grievances clearly. Many supporters felt threatened and alienated. The text lists specific complaints against Abdul El-Sayed. It mentions the demonization of Jews. It points to equivocation on terrorism. It notes the exclusion of Jewish Americans from public life. Finally, it cites expression of implacable hatred toward the world's only Jewish nation. Rogers seized on this letter in his own statement. He claimed that fans of Abdul El-Sayed fan the flames of antisemitism. His team is fighting to extinguish it.

During Monday morning's interview on Fox and Friends, Rogers described callers from Michigan. Many Democratic Jewish people called their phone line directly. One caller said they were for the campaign but could not continue with El-Sayed. Rogers also addressed the definition of an apology. He stated that being offended does not equal an apology issued by the candidate. He added that El-Sayed has a long history of antisemitic and inflammatory comments.

El-Sayed pushed back repeatedly against these accusations. He compared his commitment to Jewish safety with protecting his own children. He said they have a responsibility to take on antisemitism wherever it appears in all its forms. Meanwhile, the backing from Piker complicates El-Sayed's mission to make peace with Jewish voters. Piker recently featured an image of state Sen. Jeremy Moss on his stream. Moss is the Democratic nominee for Michigan's 11th Congressional District and he is Jewish. He said people are sharing a fake audio clip claiming he runs solely to support Israel.

Piker warned about the consequences of such ideas. If Jews in America keep pushing that they are singularly invested in Israel, action will eventually come against American Jews. Piker did not mind his own history of critical comments regarding Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza. He endorsed El-Sayed for the Democratic nomination recently. He appeared at campaign events including a primary night party in Detroit.

El-Sayed tried to distance himself from Piker over the past week. He responded to the firestorm by saying nobody speaks for this campaign besides him and his spokespeople. On Saturday, reporters peppered him with questions about the streamer. El-Sayed told them they were missing the boat if they wanted to make the race about a California man. He insisted this is about affordability in Michigan. It is about seeing a doctor in Michigan. It is about Donald Trump's disastrous policies in the state. That remains his focus right now. He repeatedly characterized Piker as just another streamer from California irrelevant to his local race.

This is not a serious conversation." These twelve midterm races will determine which party controls the Senate. Besides his numerous antisemitic comments, Piker is known for saying America deserved 9/11, praising Mao Zedong and Communist China, and arguing that capitalists should be murdered in the streets. The Democrats' discord over Israel comes as most GOP leaders continue to showcase their support for Israeli leaders. As the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership summit got underway Sunday evening in Las Vegas, El-Sayed and the far-left drew boos from the audience of high-powered GOP activists and donors.

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters, speaking Monday at the RJC gathering, said that the same hatred that fueled the Oct. 7, 2023 large-scale attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and triggered the ongoing war is growing right here in our backyard. It has found a home in the Democratic Party. This did not happen overnight. It happened step-by-step as radical extremists took over the party, and the Democratic leaders let them, Gruters argued. Meanwhile, there's no letup in the battle between the left and the center for the future of the Democratic Party.

Rahm Emanuel, a former ambassador, congressman, Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff to then-President Barack Obama, took aim at the socialist push taking aim at the party's establishment. The Democratic Party is not open to being taken over, Emanuel, who's seriously mulling a 2028 White House run, told Fox News' Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday. I don't consider the Democratic Socialists are part of the Democratic Party. About four weeks ago, they had a convention in Chicago. Separate party. They believe in defunding police, letting prisoners out of prison, opening borders, eliminating the Pentagon. If you're so confident people want that, I'll see you in November. Put it on the ballot. Let's go. Run as a separate party, Emanuel emphasized.

Democratic Party leaders, when asked about the party's current ideological warfare, often point to Democrats as a big tent party. But veteran Democratic strategist Julian Epstein criticizes such responses and jabs at his party for failing to call out the Democratic Socialists of America. They've taken cover behind the empty Big Tent lie as radical DSA members and allies, like Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed and Colorado's Melat Kiros, triumph in Democratic primaries, Epstein wrote in an opinion piece last week in the New York Post. Epstein, who served as chief counsel for the Democratic minority on the House Judiciary Committee during the 1998 impeachment proceeds against then-President Bill Clinton and who later served on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, argued that Moderates should unite and shed the Big Tent delusion because they have nothing to lose but their chains.

With the House of Representatives back in session, a resolution condemning socialism in all its forms could see a vote later this week. Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., introduced a measure Thursday condemning socialism in all its forms, telling Fox News Digital he wanted to use the vote to force moderate House Democrats to take a more public stance against the DSA.