Out Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg refused to criticize Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan as a radical when speaking to Fox News on Wednesday. Instead, Buttigieg used his response to criticize El-Sayed’s opponent, Republican Mike Rogers, for initially supporting the president’s tariffs and his war in Iran, which have resulted in skyrocketing fuel and other living costs.
Fox News host Martha MacCallum played a video clip of El-Sayed being asked whether Israel or Iran are a bigger threat to the United States. In the clip, El-Sayed first called the question a “ridiculous hypothetical” and eventually said, “I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way. One [Iran] at risk of attacking us, one [Israel] getting us into wars we have no business fighting.”
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MacCallum told Buttigieg, “Gee, that should be a pretty easy answer. What would your answer have been?”
Buttigieg, who has endorsed and campaigned alongside El-Sayed in Michigan, quickly replied, “Yeah, Iran is our enemy. Israel is not. They’re an ally, so that’s pretty clear to me.” He then quickly noted that voters in Kalamazoo, Michigan are asking instead how the race between El-Sayed and Rogers will affect their lives.
“What they’re seeing is costs have gone through the roof because of President Trump’s policies that Mike Rogers supports, and the incumbent in this district where I’m sitting, Bill Heisinger, supports,” Buttigieg continued. “They support the tariffs that have families paying $1,000 more per household on average…. If you’re watching this at home, on average, you are paying $2,000 for this Iran war, that most Americans don’t want. That’s because of the higher gas and diesel prices, the higher interest rates, and, of course, our tax dollars going to that conflict.”
Trying to return to her original framing, MacCallum asked Buttigieg, “Why do you think that was a hard question for El-Sayed to answer the way you just did?”
“I’m not sure,” Buttigieg answered. “And look, there is no candidate — and for that matter, no human being — that I agree with 100% of the time. But I will be voting for Abdul El-Sayed over Mike Rogers, because he wants to get healthcare to more Americans, while Mike Rogers repeatedly voted to cut healthcare for Americans, tried to cut and eliminate the Affordable Care Act, and would be part of a congressional GOP that broke its promise and cut Medicaid.”
The latest political polls show El-Sayed 1% to 7% ahead of Rogers.
Republicans and right-leaning media outlets have used racist and Islamophobic dog whistles to stigmatize El-Sayed, a US-born Muslim native with Egyptian ethnicity. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has referred to him by his full, unshortened name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, to weaponize his religious and ethnic background as foreign or “un-American.”
Attack ads and statements from figures like President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) have falsely labeled El-Sayed a “Muslim radical,” a “Muslim Brotherhood member,” or an “Islamic jihadist,” tying him to terrorist groups without any evidence.
Media figures have also regularly asked El-Sayed to denounce Hasan Piker, a culturally Muslim US-born progressive influencer. Piker has repeatedly criticized Israel’s genocide in Gaza. El-Sayed called Piker this month to tell him that his anti-Israel rhetoric is hurting his campaign and costing him votes as pundits characterize the men as antisemitic, according to a report by Forbes.
However, El-Sayed has also questioned why pundits ask him questions about Piker when everyday Michigan voters are more concerned with grocery prices, gas, healthcare access, housing affordability, and public schools.
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