El-Sayed Asked If Iran Or Israel Is The Bigger Threat, Then Comes The ‘Dumb’ Remark
U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) appeared to struggle to decide whether Israel or the Iranian regime posed a greater threat to the United States.
Leland Vittert, host of “On Balance,” posed the question in reference to a claim made by one of El-Sayed’s supporters — who had openly declared Israel to be the greater threat.
“One of your supporters we interviewed seemed to think that Iran was a bigger threat — Israel — seemed to think Israel was a bigger threat than Iran to the United States. Do you agree?” Vittert asked.
El-Sayed, rather than answer the question directly, attempted to reframe the conversation by suggesting that Iran was only a threat because Israel had made it so.
“Well, look, at the end of the day, our job is to address our issues diplomatically,” he said. “But, right now, we are in the war in Iran, in part, because of the advocacy of the Israeli prime minister. There’s no disagreement on that. He came to the Situation Room and advocated for the war.”
El-Sayed went on to argue that depending on how one defined the word “threat,” the fact that the United States sends money to Israel in addition to funding the current military action posed a threat to everyday Americans by making things less affordable.
“We’re now paying, what? $1,600 for it — our gas, our groceries are unaffordable. And that’s on top of the billions in tax dollars that we spend sending our money over there. Now, how we think about a threat, that’s …”
“You’re going to be a senator, what do you view as the biggest threat?” Vittert attempted once more to get a straight answer out of El-Sayed.
“I’ve been more than extremely clear about this. I don’t want our tax dollars being used to subsidize war abroad. I don’t want our tax dollars being used to fund, unconditionally, foreign militaries. I think it’s important that we be the first among equals to enforce international law against any and every country that breaks it. So, this sort of, like, hypothetical, who’s a bigger threat is a dumb question,” he claimed, adding, “The big question is … what is the public policy we really want?”
Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who is running against El-Sayed, argued that the question was not “dumb” but the answer was concerning.
“Radio silence from Abdul El-Sayed about the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks — yet this surfaces today. I wish I could say this is shocking. When people tell you who they are, believe them,” he posted on X.
