Michigan Democrat responds to Khamenei’s comments, California governor’s race heating up
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is drawing criticism for downplaying the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking debate over progressive political positioning. Noah Rothman analyzes El-Sayed’s strategy and the challenges facing Democrats, then turns to the California governor’s race. For Democrats worried about being shut out of the general election by two GOP candidates, there is a “15 percent chance of disaster.”
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A Democratic Senate candidate The organizations running in the embattled state of Michigan said the United States should seek to understand why terrorists commit such “heinous acts,” suggesting those acts were born out of “pain and frustration and a degree of lack of agency.”
Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor and former Wayne County health director, is vying for Michigan’s open Senate seat in the 2026 midterm elections. He runs a platform that includes Medicare for All and free education and is critical of Israel.
In July 2025, El-Sayed held a town hall meeting in South Haven, Michigan, where a voter asked how he would address terrorism if elected to the Senate. The exchange was captured on video and initially obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
El-Sayed said that while the United States’ current approach to terrorism, which uses U.S. military power against terrorist organizations, is “necessary,” he suggested that leaders must also try to “understand” where terrorists are coming from.
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, February 21, 2026. ((Photo by Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images))
“I also think we need to be curious about why these things happen in the first place, like what drives someone to want to commit such a heinous act,” El-Sayed said. “I have to study people’s pain. That’s what I did in medicine. That’s what I try to do in politics, like: What happens when people are in pain?”
El-Sayed said terrorism is political violence committed “in pursuit of a political goal.”
“You have to feel some level of pain and frustration and a lack of agency to do something so crazy and absurd, right?” said El Sayed.
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Abdul El Sayed, left, pictured next to Hasan Piker, right. (Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images; Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)
He then said that the “heinous acts” of terrorists make him think about how “we behave so that someone thinks we don’t see them.”
“And I think too often the way we have engaged in the world has been by bringing this into being Rules-based international order“And then we break the rules of the rules-based international order,” El-Sayed said. “And that creates a situation where a lot of people look at us and say: That’s hypocritical and that’s wrong.”
He said the United States should not respond in a way that does not “inflame tensions” and that if elected to the Senate he would bring “empathy” to U.S. conversations about and responses to terrorism. He accused Americans of being “arrogant” in their current views on global conflicts.
“I think that’s there for us Strength in wisdom and there is strength in empathy, and there is strength in justice, and there is strength in perseverance,” El-Sayed said.
Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and welcomed comparisons between him and Zohran Mamdani. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, was extremely critical of Israel’s actions during the Gaza war. He previously accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians and he campaigned with an internet personality Hasan Parker, who joined the terrorist group Hamas. Parker said he would vote for Hamas, saying it was “a thousand times better” than Israel and that he would vote for Hamas over Israel “every time.”
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In the Democratic primary, El-Sayed faces competition from Rep. Hayley Stevens, D-Mich., and Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMarrow.
Fox News Digital reached out to us Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and El-Sayed for comment.
