El-Sayed Under Fire for Khamenei Comments, Campaigning With 9/11 Apologist

By Editorial Staff | August 9, 2026

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is facing sustained criticism from within his own party after leaked campaign audio surfaced showing him downplaying the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, telling supporters that "there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today" following the February assassination. The comment, referencing the large Muslim community in southeast Michigan, drew sharp scrutiny given Khamenei's decades of brutal repression and support for terrorism, with critics questioning why a candidate for U.S. Senate would frame the death of one of the world's most notorious state sponsors of terror in terms of local sympathy rather than condemnation.

The controversy deepened when El-Sayed campaigned alongside far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has previously said the United States "deserved" the September 11 terrorist attacks and has a documented history of controversial remarks. Rep. Haley Stevens, El-Sayed's primary rival, said it was unacceptable for a Senate candidate to campaign with someone unapologetic about "a career of making hurtful and anti-Semitic comments," while State Senator Mallory McMorrow described Piker as someone who "says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks." El-Sayed brushed off the criticism, telling reporters that such condemnation is simply what people do "when they're losing an argument," and insisted he was taking his campaign "to the folks who've felt locked out for a very long time."

Despite the backlash, El-Sayed went on to defeat Stevens in Michigan's August 4 Democratic primary, a result that sent shockwaves through the national party and represented a major defeat for AIPAC-aligned spending that had poured tens of millions of dollars into backing Stevens. El-Sayed, who has also drawn fire for opposing continued U.S. military support for Israel and for past comments supporting driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, now heads into a general election matchup against Republican nominee Mike Rogers, in a race that is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched Senate contests in the country this fall.