Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, sparked social media backlash after posting his 9/11 message on his X account.
“They didn’t just attack America that day they attacked the idea of America,” El-Sayed said.
“The notion of a nation brought together by ideals — a place where freedom and commitment to justice bind us, even if, at times, we struggle to fully realize it,” the controversial far-left candidate continued.
“Today on 9/11 we remember the lives that were taken from us in a terrible act of terrorism.”
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Online viewers quickly reminded El-Sayed of his friendship with Hasan Piker, the progressive streamer who has gone viral multiple times for previously claiming that the U.S. “deserved 9/11.”
“Shut up, you FRAUD,” the Libs of TikTok, a conservative X account that focuses on key social and cultural issues, said in a post Friday.
Steve Guest, a frequent political commentator and a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed the criticism in a post of his own, posting a picture of Piker and El-Sayed standing together.
“This you?” Guest wrote.
He also included a caption on the photo with another one of Piker’s quotes.
“‘I hate America… at least I say it with my f—ing chest,’” the picture’s caption read.
“Campaigning with a guy who said we deserved 9/11… his brazen dishonesty makes him all the bigger piece of s—,” GOP consultant Ryan Girdusky posted on X.
“You’re a disgrace. You remain unwilling to disavow your chief spokesman who said “America deserved 9/11,” National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Joanna Rodriguez posted on X.
“You belittled the American lives lost year after year while giving excuses and showing sympathy for terrorists.”
“Good job reading from that script buddy,” GOP digital strategist Mike Hahn wrote on X.
Joey Mannarino, the co-founder of the Overton Institute, a right-wing media group, expressed surprise that El-Sayed had gained any kind of momentum in his campaign for Senate.
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“How in God’s name is Abdul El-Sayed even close to winning this race? The man campaigns with people who say America deserved 9/11. He is a radical Islamist extremist if I’ve ever seen one. And this is who Michigan wants to put in the Senate?” Mannarino wrote.
In the past, El-Sayed has made statements noting he doesn’t share all of Piker’s views.
“But I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokesperson,” El-Sayed said after Piker called Israel a “Jewish ISIS.”
“And while politicians and pundits try to make this race about a Twitch streamer, we’re going to be talking about gas, groceries, good schools and healthcare. Because that’s what Michiganders keep asking about.”
Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter with The Washington Free Beacon, noted that El-Sayed’s post didn’t focus on the wars that followed 9/11, a topic El-Sayed has frequently invoked when speaking about the terror attack.
“El-Sayed, reading off a teleprompter, gives a statement about 9/11. This time he sticks to just 9/11 and not the ‘War on Terror’ aftermath that he usually mentions in his 9/11 anniversary posts,” Ross wrote.
In the past, El-Sayed has held up the war on terror as an example of military aggression, using it as Israel prepared to strike Gaza back in October 2023.
“The President’s visit to Israel as it plans a major escalation & invasion of Gaza is already being held up as an endorsement of the violence being unleashed on innocent Palestinians. I can’t help but hear echoes of 9/11. When do we learn that more violence doesn’t fix violence?” El-Sayed wrote.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment on why he had not made more efforts to disavow Piker.