Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, delivered an apology to the state’s Jewish Democratic Caucus at a party convention in Lansing. The apology addressed comments he made following an attack on Temple Israel synagogue in a Detroit suburb earlier this year.
During the March incident, a man drove his vehicle into the synagogue building and fired on a security guard before taking his own life. The attacker, identified as Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, had lost four relatives in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon the week prior. In a video response at that time, El-Sayed condemned the attack while stating that “hurt people hurt people,” referencing the circumstances surrounding Ghazali’s family.
Critics interpreted El-Sayed’s comments as providing justification for the attacker’s actions. On Saturday, El-Sayed addressed the controversy directly, telling reporters that his remarks may have been misunderstood. He stated, “My comments may have been misconstrued to justify something I did not mean to justify,” and expressed regret to anyone who felt hurt by what he said.
El-Sayed explained his original intent was to provide context for the attack rather than to justify it. “What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context,” he said, adding that “you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain.” The apology represents El-Sayed’s latest effort to move past controversies involving allegations of antisemitism that have emerged during the campaign, including scrutiny over his association with commentator Hasan Piker.
The apology follows a contentious Democratic primary in which El-Sayed defeated U.S. Representative Haley Stevens. He now faces Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a general election race that observers say will influence control of the Senate.
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