El Sayed tries to reset Senate campaign amid Piker fallout
Abdul el Sayed, a Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, is attempting to recover from recent scrutiny related to his association with controversial Twitch streamer hasan Piker, who has a history of antisemitic comments.Despite efforts to distance himself by hiring a Jewish community liaison and apologizing for past remarks about a synagogue attack, el Sayed faces ongoing criticism for not fully severing ties with Piker, who has campaigned with him and previously made inflammatory statements. His stance has caused concern among Jewish voters and Democratic allies, with some accusing him of aligning with socialist-leaning policies and controversial figures.Meanwhile, Republican opponents and figures have intensified their attack, framing el Sayed as dangerous for supporting what they describe as radical ideas and associating him with antisemitism. Piker, in turn, defends el Sayed and criticizes his attempts at moderation, highlighting teh political divide over his candidacy and the issues surrounding his connections and statements.
Democrat Abdul el Sayed, the Michigan Senate nominee, is seeking to hit reset after a brutal August in which he couldn’t move past his association with Hasan Piker. But short of fully denouncing the controversial Twitch streamer with a history of antisemitism, el Sayed can’t shake the spotlight that remains on their political friendship.
El Sayed is making new overtures to Jewish Democrats, some of whom have publicly embraced Republican rival Mike Rogers, threatening his chances to defend a Democratic-held battleground seat that could determine whether Republicans hold on to the upper chamber.
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El Sayed is in the process of hiring a Jewish community liaison and is interviewing candidates, his campaign confirmed to the Washington Examiner. And over the weekend, while speaking to Michigan Democrats at the party’s nominating convention and a separate religious event, he apologized to Jewish Democrats for past comments criticized as sympathizing with the perpetrator of a March terrorist attack on a synagogue by saying that “violence is a cycle” and “hurt people hurt people.”
“I’m asking for forgiveness and a moment of grace. I made a mistake,” el Sayed told the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus, referring to his remarks about the attack on the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
But without severing ties to Piker, who has campaigned with el Sayed and once said “America deserved 9/11” before later recanting the statement, el Sayed continues to be dogged by his anti-Israel rhetoric and bleeding support among the more than 100,000 Jewish Michigan voters who could make or break his election.
At a Monday press conference with former primary opponent Mallory McMorrow, el Sayed steered clear of Israel and Piker. But in the days prior, he’s faced repeated questions from the media about why he refuses to further distance himself from someone he says is nothing more than “a streamer in California.”
“I don’t ever want my comments to hurt anybody’s feelings. It’s important to me that people understand that I take serious the pain of all communities in this state,” el Sayed said. “But I’m no longer going to have a conversation about a Twitch streamer in California. It’s just not a serious conversation.”
At nearly the same moment as el Sayed’s presser on Monday, a split screen unfolded as Republicans from Michigan to Nevada railed on the Democratic nominee and his positions that more closely align with the socialist wave that’s captured Democratic primaries this cycle.
“He can’t condemn his running mate, Hasan Piker, because they’re in total lockstep,” Rogers said at a rally with Vice President JD Vance in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Vance referred to el Sayed as a “gold mine of content” who is “fighting for the most terrible ideas and terrible policies and the craziest ideas out there.” The vice president invoked Piker and el Sayed’s Temple Israel remarks, describing Rogers’s Democratic opponent as “very, very evil.”
“It’s people who see themselves not as citizens of a combination fighting for every single person, whether they’re Jewish or Christian, whether they’re white or black or brown, but see themselves as fighting for one group at the expense of others,” Vance said. “And that is how, ladies and gentlemen, you destroy the United States of America.”
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Meanwhile, at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit in Las Vegas, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters took aim at el Sayed’s synagogue comments and called a potential Democratic Senate majority “not just a political setback for our party and our movement; it is a direct threat to the Jewish community.”
El Sayed, himself a longtime Israel critic, has distanced himself from Piker after the latter suggested American Jews’ support for Israel might prompt people to “take action” against Jews in the United States, but stopped short of fully denouncing him. Piker has downplayed el Sayed’s attempt to put distance between them and questioned his olive branches as an effort to moderate his criticism of Israel.
EL SAYED TRIES TO BUILD BRIDGE WITH JEWISH COMMUNITY WITH TEMPLE ISRAEL APOLOGY
At the same time, Rogers has begun to flip Democrats, particularly those who are Jewish, in his favor. And prominent national Democrats from states across the country have forcefully condemned Piker in ways that have drawn sharp contrast to el Sayed’s more tepid approach.
“I am literally the person that is being dangled, and I’m going to tell you, once again, he’s not moderating on his perspective on Israel or anything like that,” Piker said of el Sayed in a recent livestream.
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