Nancy Pelosi called Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s view that Israel should not be a Jewish state “wrong,” then turned around the same day and urged voters to elect him.
Story Snapshot
- On Friday, October 30, remarks surfaced in which Pelosi said El-Sayed’s position on Israel “is wrong” and does not reflect Democrats in Congress.
- She also said she disagrees with some of what New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said.
- That same Friday, Pelosi posted on X urging Americans to support Democratic Senate nominees, “including @AbdulElSayed.”
- El-Sayed says he does not dispute Israel’s right to exist, only “the idea that you should have an ethnostate.”
Pelosi’s On-Record Rebuke Raises Stakes in Michigan Race
Pelosi, the former House speaker, made the comments on “On Brand,” a podcast hosted by advertising executive and TV commentator Donny Deutsch. Deutsch told her that saying Israel has no right to be a Jewish state is antisemitic, and he said El-Sayed holds that view. Pelosi answered, “No, it’s more than concerning. It’s wrong. It’s wrong, and it isn’t a reflection of the Democrats in the Congress of the United States.” She added, “This new person in Michigan, we’ll see if he gets elected to the Congress.”
Deutsch also named Mamdani as someone who has said similar things. Pelosi said she hopes the mayor succeeds but disagrees with some of what he has said. Her words matter because Michigan votes on Tuesday, November 3, and El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers in a race rated a toss-up. Many Jewish voters in Michigan have watched El-Sayed’s Israel stance closely, and a top Democrat has drawn a public line against it.
Same Day, a Push to Elect Him
That same Friday, Pelosi posted on X: “I urge everyone across America to support our Democratic Senate nominees, including @AbdulElSayed. Every seat matters. Every vote counts. Let’s win together!” Her spokesman, Nicholas Martin, said that “while they may disagree on some issues, she is united with him” on lowering costs, protecting health care and defending democracy. So the message to voters was mixed: his view is wrong, but vote for him anyway.
For conservatives, the episode shows a party trying to have it both ways. Party leaders want the Senate seat, and they also want Jewish voters to believe the party still stands with Israel. Those two goals pulled Pelosi in different directions in a single day.
Outside Ad Sparks Outrage Over Israel and U.S. Aid
Pelosi’s remarks landed in the middle of a fight over an ad. A group called Rebellion PAC, which is not tied to El-Sayed’s campaign, made an ad showing two shoppers in a grocery store. One says they cannot afford groceries because they must set money aside for “killing Palestinians,” blaming U.S. aid to Israel for high prices. Critics called the ad antisemitic. El-Sayed’s campaign said it was not connected to the ad but at first did not condemn it outright.
Rep. Haley Stevens, the Michigan congresswoman El-Sayed beat in the August Democratic primary, demanded he condemn it. In a Friday statement she wrote that “the ad did not invent its argument,” and that it dramatized a claim El-Sayed has made in his own words: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care and child care.
Stevens Feud Spills Into Final Campaign Days
El-Sayed fired back that Friday, saying Stevens “seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.” He said his campaign is focused on gas prices, groceries and access to a doctor. His campaign then asked Stevens not to attend its final events, according to reports. Stevens had said she agreed to appear with him only because she believed he planned to condemn the ad.
On Saturday, October 31, at a campaign stop in Sterling Heights, El-Sayed said, “I do not agree with the contents of that ad.” He said the dispute is not “really of relevance to Michigan voters.” Rogers praised Stevens on Facebook as a “courageous leader.”
El-Sayed’s Defense: Opposing an “Ethnostate,” Denying Antisemitism
El-Sayed has denied that he disputes Israel’s existence. In an interview, he said he does not, and that he disputes only “the idea that you should have an ethnostate,” meaning a country defined by one ethnic or religious group. In August, he said his commitment to Jewish safety is the same as his commitment to the safety of his own children, and that there is “a responsibility to take on antisemitism in all of its forms.”
El-Sayed’s campaign had not responded to Pelosi’s remarks when they were first reported. Even so, the record is clear on what Pelosi said: his view on Israel is wrong, and Democrats should still send him to the Senate. Michigan voters will weigh both halves of that message on Tuesday, November 3.
Sources:
newsweek.com, yahoo.com, spectrumlocalnews.com, nbcnews.com, washingtonpost.com, thehill.com
