Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed faced roughly an hour of pointed questions Tuesday over his ties to controversial streamer Hasan Piker, his views on Israel, campaign money and his socialist ties after his Republican rival Mike Rogers declined to participate in a scheduled debate in Detroit Tuesday night.
El-Sayed offered one of his most explicit condemnations yet of Piker's controversial rhetoric, declined to give a yes-or-no answer when pressed on U.S. recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and pushed back on questions about his relationship with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) during the wide-ranging conversation with the moderator.
Rogers did not attend Tuesday's event after declining the station's invitation earlier in the day, leaving El-Sayed to field questions from moderator Roop Raj, viewers and members of the studio audience.
FOX 2 said both campaigns were invited on Aug. 5, the day after Michigan's primary, and that El-Sayed quickly accepted, while Rogers did not formally decline until the morning of the Tuesday debate due to objections over Raj serving as the moderator, arguing he was biased.
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On Tuesday evening, Raj pressed El-Sayed on whether he could "completely, 100%" disavow offensive comments Piker had made. The question came just two days after El-Sayed resisted questioning about Piker during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"Absolutely," El-Sayed responded to Raj about disavowing Piker's controversial comments, before specifically addressing the streamer's recent remarks about Jewish Americans.
"When Hasan made these comments about Jewish Americans and Jewish Michiganders, I disavowed them entirely," El-Sayed said.
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El-Sayed went further Tuesday when Raj continued pressing him, saying there were "many, many things" Piker has said that he disagreed with and specifically pointing to the streamer's comments about 9/11 and Jewish Americans. Still, El-Sayed defended his decision to engage with Piker, arguing that speaking with someone does not amount to endorsing all of that person's views and saying he wanted to offer Piker's millions of followers "a pathway back into our politics."
Meanwhile, El-Sayed declined to give a yes-or-no answer when pressed on whether the United States should continue recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, instead saying he believes "in equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike."
"People ask this question about the right of the state that actually exists to exist, but I never get asked about the right of the state that does not exist to exist," he continued. "I don't get asked about whether or not the state that exists has a right to use our tax dollars to do heinous things. I don't get asked about whether or not the kids in Detroit have a right to their tax dollars, so I just think the premise of the question is built around trying to ask people to agree to the current status quo that we have seen become a deeply unstable, deeply violent equilibrium."
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At another tense point, El-Sayed accused Rogers of trying to turn the race into a "culture war" focused on El-Sayed's ethnicity and Muslim faith. The accusation came as El-Sayed bypassed a direct answer on whether he would return campaign contributions from individuals affiliated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Fox News Digital previously reported that El-Sayed's campaign received more than $115,000 from at least 41 individuals who worked for, previously worked for or held leadership roles with CAIR, which has faced longstanding controversy over alleged ties to Hamas and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator by federal prosecutors in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing case. CAIR has also been designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and formally designated or labeled as such in Florida and Texas.
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El-Sayed defended the organization as a civil rights group and accused Rogers of trying to make the election "about the color of my skin or how I pray."
The exchange came after El-Sayed repeatedly criticized Rogers over his own campaign funding, accusing the Republican of being beholden to corporations. El-Sayed also questioned Rogers earlier in the event over his attendance at American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) fundraisers while discussing Israel.
"I believe in an America that is big enough for all of us: Mike Rogers, Donald Trump, JD Vance," El-Sayed said Tuesday night. "They believe that some people are more American than others. They think that if you pray a different way, your family comes from a different place, that somehow there's an asterisk on your American identity."
Raj, the moderator, followed up, noting that, "JD Vance is the father of the children to an Indian American," and adding that the "second lady is an Indian woman who came to this country."
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"I think there is diversity amongst that party," he said.
El-Sayed also pushed back Tuesday night when he was questioned about his relationship with the DSA and whether he shares significant values with the group.
"I'm not a part of the organization," El-Sayed responded before defending his view of capitalism and arguing that corporate consolidation, rather than government regulation, poses the greater threat to free markets.
"We don't live in capitalism. We live in corporatism," he continued. "You don't have to be a socialist to believe that people deserve health care. You don't have to be a socialist to believe that we need good roads."
El-Sayed has repeatedly rejected the socialist label and described himself as a capitalist. The DSA did not endorse his Senate campaign, though prominent democratic socialists have supported, or have been affiliated with his candidacy. CBS News reported last month that El-Sayed said he was not part of DSA but believed the group's supporters should be welcomed into the Democratic Party's coalition.
Fox News Digital previously reported that El-Sayed spoke at six events held by DSA chapters between 2017 and 2020, including a 2019 fundraiser where he served as a keynote speaker. Socialist organizers have also described El-Sayed as a "longtime friend of Detroit DSA," while El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal in July that he was "not technically or practically DSA."
The candidates are scheduled to meet Oct. 8 at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids and again Oct. 21 at WXYZ in Detroit ahead of the November general election.
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