Abdul El-Sayed, the favorite in Michigan’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, deleted a 2019 tweet condemning America for having been “built on the systematic annihilation of Indigenous Peoples” according to a notable new report from The Washington Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman.

“Just a reminder this #Thanksgiving. This country was built on the systematic annihilation of Indigenous Peoples, whose ancestors suffer some of the highest rates of homelessness, joblessness, and mortality today,” wrote El-Sayed on Thanksgiving Day 2019. “We owe so much more than ‘thanks.’ Time for Reparations.”

In a follow-up tweet, he acknowledged that he meant “descendants,” rather than “ancestors.”

El-Sayed presently boasts a 4.5-point lead over both of his competitors for the Democratic nomination, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and State Senator Mallory McMorrow, according to RealClearPolitics’ polling average. The primary will officially end on August 4.

Previous reporting from Goodman revealed that El-Sayed had told his campaign team that he believed prospective voters were upset by the death of longtime Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei earlier this year.

“I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So, like, I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don’t think it’s worth even touching that,” remarked El-Sayed in audio released by the Free Beacon.

He was later asked about the comment by Fox’s Lawrence Jones, and explained it this way:

Well, look, I’m no apologist for any regime, including our own. And at the end of the day, the question is whether or not a leader focuses on his or her people. Clearly the ayatollah did not, and clearly Donald Trump and this administration is not, either.

Again, I’m going to tell you they are white, they are Black, they are Arab, and non-Arab. They are Muslim and not Muslim. They are all the people that had to pump gas this morning to get to work and realize they were going to have to end up paying tremendously more money because of an an illegal unjustifiable war.

So the notion that the ayatollah is dead is one thing, but the notion by which our country did it — fighting a third [conflict] in a third country this year alone, that there is the problem. I think we have to understand that in politics, in government, the means don’t always justify the end. The end doesn’t always justify the means. And I think Americans of all stripes right now are unified in asking, what is the end here and what are we doing?

— —

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!