Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha blasted Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el Sayed for trying to “play both sides” to appeal to Michigan voters.
“Abdul el Sayed is trying to play both sides, right? In other words, in Dearborn, Michigan, that’s a big contingent of Muslims — people that would support an el Sayed, people that support Hamas,” Concha said on Fox Report with Jon Scott on Sunday. “Therefore, he doesn’t want to make those people angry and therefore vote against him or not vote at all, so he’s going with that whole approach.”
El Sayed narrowly won the Democratic Senate primary in August and now faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November in one of the closest-watched Senate races. El Sayed has been a vocal supporter of Gaza and has often spoken negatively about the Israeli government, describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, a characterization Israel rejects.
“Now you look back at World War II, and you see that in Poland, for example, 90% of the population that was Jewish was eliminated, was murdered by the Nazis. That’s a genocide, right?” Concha said. “That’s 3 million people eliminated. You look at Gaza, and you look at this war, and it’s horrible. Everybody agrees with that, but 3% of the population in Gaza has been killed, and that’s what happens in wars, unfortunately. But it’s not a genocide.”
In 2024, while former President Joe Biden was campaigning for reelection, el Sayed supported Michigan’s 2024 “uncommitted” movement to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.
“Back in 2024, you had [then-Vice President] Kamala Harris running with Joe Biden and Abdul el Sayed running a campaign against them,” Concha said. “In other words, telling people, ‘Don’t vote for this ticket, vote for uncommitted.’”
“He’s gone from don’t vote for Kamala Harris to I’ll have Kamala Harris, the human Chornobyl outside of a teleprompter, campaigning for me,” Concha added.
El Sayed went on to endorse Harris in the 2024 presidential election after Biden dropped out of the race. They have framed their recent partnership as an effort to unite Democrats despite their past disagreements over Israel policy. Harris campaigned with el Sayed in Detroit last week, emphasizing the need for Democrats to come together ahead of the November elections.
“It’s going to be a very, very close race, but the fact that it’s even close is very disturbing,” Concha said.
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A recent poll from Rasmussen Reports released on Sept. 24 shows el Sayed narrowly leading Rogers, with 47% of Michigan voters supporting el Sayed and 44% supporting Rogers.
“In the end, it’s a means to an end,” Concha said. “Do anything and say anything to get elected, and if that means that you have to compromise your principles, if you have them, well, Abdul el Sayed is willing to do that,” Concha said.