Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed apologized on August 29, 2026, at the state party convention in Lansing for a past statement following a synagogue attack in West Bloomfield Township. The initial remarks, which included the phrase hurt people hurt people, had drawn sharp criticism from Jewish residents and prominent Democrats.
The Lansing Convention Apology and Past Synagogue Remarks
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed addressed lingering friction over his past remarks during the Michigan Democratic Party convention in Lansing. The controversy stems from a statement released on March 13 following an attack on a West Bloomfield Township synagogue, where a gunman rammed his truck into the temple, opened fire, and exchanged gunfire with security guards before being killed. Ibrahim Ghazali ― the brother of Ayman Ghalazi, the man who carried out the attack at the synagogue ― was a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces said. While El-Sayed’s initial statement asserted that there was no justification for the violence, it also included the controversial phrasing hurt people hurt people.
That specific choice of words drew sustained criticism from Jewish residents across Michigan, including Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel. Addressing reporters at the convention, El-Sayed offered a direct acknowledgment of that pain, as The Detroit News reported.
“To anybody who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry,”
Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, via The Detroit News and Fox News Digital
Fox News Digital also reported on the apology delivered by the Democratic Senate nominee. El-Sayed elaborated on his original intent to reporters in Lansing, explaining that he had attempted to provide context for the tragedy but recognized that his approach missed the mark.
“That was not my intention. We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned that outright. What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context. And you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain.”
Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, via The Detroit News
Engaging With the Jewish Caucus and Unifying the Party
Ahead of his appearance before reporters, El-Sayed met on Saturday with the Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish Caucus and is scheduled to attend another Jewish Caucus event in Birmingham on Aug. 30. State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield Township, who is Jewish, didn’t attend the caucus meeting on Aug. 29 but said he heard the conversation with El-Sayed went well.
Moss described the candidate’s direct apology as something that a lot of people in that room needed to hear, according to reporting from The Detroit News. Moss, a candidate for the U.S. House in the 11th District, and Nessel, who is also Jewish, are among a group of prominent Democrats who have not yet endorsed El-Sayed, despite the fact that he won the primary election against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham on Aug. 4.
Characterizing the ongoing discussions inside the party, Moss emphasized that building consensus remains an active process. This is a process about making sure all voices in the 11th District are heard and valued in our Democratic tent, and I see real efforts for that to take place,
Moss told The Detroit News, adding that the remarks in the Jewish Caucus today are a significant part of that.
Broader Campaign Friction and the Path to November
As El-Sayed seeks to consolidate support within his own party, other prominent Democrats have raised distinct concerns. Another Michigan Democrat, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids, has criticized El-Sayed for campaigning with liberal online commentator Hasan Piker. Earlier in the week, Scholten said she still had concerns about El-Sayed’s connections to Piker, who’s made a series of controversial comments about Israel and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
When questioned by reporters at the convention about his connection to Piker, El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health official, turned away a reporter’s question about Piker, saying he wasn’t interested in a conversation about a social media person in California.
If you want to make this race about a streamer in California, I just think you're missing the boat,
El-Sayed said, asserting that this is about affordability in Michigan. This is about being able to see a doctor in Michigan. This is about (Republican President) Donald Trump's disastrous policies in Michigan.
With the general election approaching, El-Sayed will face Republican candidate Mike Rogers of White Lake Township in the November election. Stressing the necessity of intra-party solidarity, El-Sayed maintained that this election is not about the past,
but about the future,
noting that if we're serious about protecting our democracy, if we're serious about standing up for unions and providing health care, then we need to be serious about what it takes to unify and win in November.
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