Yesterday, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed made the following statement to the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus regarding his infamous comment that "hurt people do hurt people" following the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan:
My comments may have been misconstrued to justify something I did not mean to justify. To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry. That was not my intention.
What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context, and you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain.
This is a self-serving, non-apology apology if I have ever heard one.
After all, it is worth remembering that El-Sayed was specifically asked if his "hurt people do hurt people" analogy would apply to a Jewish person whose family had been murdered by Hamas during the October 7th attacks. El-Sayed replied that the analogy did not apply and stated, “After Oct. 7, there was a whole genocide against Palestinians.”
In other words, El-Sayed doesn't believe his own bullshit. For El-Sayed, "Hurt people do hurt people" only applies to those who wish to seek revenge against Israel. Jewish victims of terrorism do not count because Hamas and Hezbollah are committing acts of resistance.
So why did El-Sayed make his statement?
Let me offer a couple of reasons.
For starters there was Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel appearing on David Frum's podcast a few days earlier stating:
A lot of us perceived that as sort of making excuses for somebody who sought to murder over 100 pre-K school children, and that’s the kind of mentality that bothers me a lot. You can’t make excuses for that kind of domestic terrorism.
Let us remember this the same Dana Nessel who did not feel safe attending this very gathering of her own party due to anti-Semitic hostility towards her.
Now, I don't think that Nessel's statement alone would have been enough to persuade El-Sayed to make his so-called apology. Although recent polls have El-Sayed ahead of Republican Mike Rogers, I suspect his internal polling is less optimistic.
The question now is whether El-Sayed's statement for Nessel as well as Congresswoman Hillary Scholten and Jeremy Moss, who is seeking to succeed Haley Stevens in Congress, to come around and endorse him. I wouldn't be surprised if they do as Jim Clyburn has already done so.
Although El-Sayed's alleged apology might be sufficient for Democrats on the fence about him, it remains to be seen if that will be the case for Michigan voters. A lot of it will depend on whether El-Sayed makes any future statements perceived as hostile to Jews or if any past statements come to light which he cannot adequately explain.
And even if El-Sayed does face more scrutiny, Michigan voters might be more concerned by the impact of Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mike Rogers' support for them.
Then again, it is not crystal clear if Jewish Democrats in Michigan are buying El-Sayed's explanation. In which case, t is quite possible that some of those delegates might be pulling the lever for Mike Rogers in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment