Michigan Senate Candidate El-Sayed Under Scrutiny for Radical Associations

Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign faces mounting criticism as connections to far-left activists and controversial figures continue to surface, raising questions about his political positioning in a key battleground state.

The Democratic candidate has recently been scrutinized for refusing to distance himself from Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has made controversial statements about Hamas attacks on Israel and previously claimed Americans “deserved” 9/11 – comments he later walked back. When pressed about this association on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” El-Sayed defended his decision, stating, “Just because you invite somebody to campaign with you does not mean that you agree with them.”

But Piker is just one in a growing list of controversial associations. El-Sayed recently highlighted an endorsement from Tom Burke, an executive leader in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a group that openly aims to establish a new Communist Party in America. Burke has demonstrated consistent support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, including attending the convention of Venezuela’s ruling socialist party in 2022 and meeting with the country’s elections agency officials in 2020.

“We want social change that builds upon the civil rights movement and the women’s liberation movement, the LGBTQ movements of the 70s and 80s, and especially the labor movement,” Burke said in a recent interview, adding that his goal was to “create a new society from the ashes of the one that the billionaires are destroying.”

El-Sayed also recently held a fundraiser with Andy Shallal, a wealthy Iraqi-American businessman who has publicly praised Cuban leader Fidel Castro and radical activist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper before fleeing to Cuba. Last year, Shallal visited the Cuban embassy, posting about the experience on social media.

The candidate has received donations from other left-wing figures, including Nancy Romer, a professor who has criticized America’s “savage capitalism,” and Robert Meister, a Marxism expert who previously directed The Bruce Initiative on Rethinking Capitalism.

These associations add to earlier controversy surrounding El-Sayed’s connections to Michigan-based Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, who eulogized Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei after his death at the hands of U.S. forces in February. When questioned about his silence regarding Khamenei’s death, El-Sayed described U.S. involvement in Iran as an “illegal,” “immoral” “regime change war.”

El-Sayed’s relationship with socialist organizations dates back to his 2018 gubernatorial campaign in Michigan, when he stated that he “share[s] a lot of ideals” with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Since 2019, he has participated in at least five DSA-sponsored events, according to public reports and social media posts.

“Abdul El-Sayed cannot win a general election in Michigan, full stop,” a longtime Democratic strategist told Fox News. The strategist pointed to El-Sayed’s history of controversial statements, including calling police “standing armies we deploy against our own people” and supporting the defunding of police departments – posts El-Sayed reportedly deleted when launching his Senate campaign.

Republican strategist Collin Reed suggested that El-Sayed’s primary opponents should highlight these connections. “Welcoming the support from open and avowed socialist sympathizers will no doubt make Mr. El-Sayed the belle of the ball at… left-wing resistance movements, but it’s a tough sell in a battleground state like Michigan,” Reed said. “You are the company you keep, and the other Democrats competing in this primary would be wise to use these revelations to disqualify Mr. El-Sayed in the eyes of their voters.”

Jessica Anderson, President of the conservative Sentinel Action Fund, was more direct: “Abdul El-Sayed is campaigning with, and for, extremists. If his recent comments weren’t bad enough, El-Sayed’s ties to the DSA, Maduro cronies, and Iranian regime sympathizers check all the boxes of radical leftism that has become all too commonplace in the Democrat Party.”

As Michigan remains a crucial swing state in national politics, El-Sayed’s associations may significantly impact both the Democratic primary and potentially the general election, should he secure the nomination.