In case you missed it, Abdul
El-Sayed claims he’s “not a socialist," but his campaign endorsements and
policy ideas say otherwise. El-Sayed’s about-face on socialism comes
as new polls show the majority of Americans have an unfavorable
view of socialism and the Democrat
brand.
You can read the full story here or
see highlights below.
Abdul El-Sayed insists he’s a ‘not a socialist’ — campaign
endorsements, policies suggest otherwise
Midwesterner
July 28, 2026
U.S. Senate candidate Abdul
El-Sayed insists he’s not a socialist, despite endorsements from the country’s
leading Democratic Socialists and his championing policies that include
government-run health care.
The former Wayne County
health official and “longtime friend of Detroit (Democratic Socialists of
America)” was confronted about his economic perspective during a Fox
2 Detroit debate Monday with Congresswoman Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, when
host moderator Roop Raj questioned whether he considers himself a socialist.
“I’m not a socialist, I’m
just a capitalist who understands how capitalism works,” El-Sayed said.
[…]
“So I think government ought
to be there to regulate on monopolies and oligopolies so that everybody can
actually participate in an economy without … being forced to pay more, or get
paid less for the work that they do,” El-Sayed said.
The comments echo similar
remarks El-Sayed has made to media outlets throughout his campaign, which was
launched in April 2025 with an immediate endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders,
I-Vermont, the leading Democratic Socialist in America.
He’s also endorsed by other
high-profile members of the Democratic Socialists of America, including
Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and Rashida Tlaib,
D-Detroit.
El-Sayed built his
campaign on a call for Medicare for All and strict control of private
corporations, while railing against billionaires and corporations, and their
influence in politics, in particular.
[…]
Despite comments to the
Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he’s “not technically or
practically DSA,” he headlined a 2019 fundraiser for the group’s Detroit
chapter alongside Tlaib that raised $10,000, according to Democratic Left,
“the magazine of the Democratic Socialists of America.”
At the event, El-Sayed was
photographed with a group of grinning socialists including Tlaib behind a table
with a Marxist-style pamphlet with a red DSA fist choking a snake labeled
“CAPITALISM,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Other signage at the event
included a poster claiming “solidarity has no borders” in Arabic calligraphy,
and another insisting “DETROIT DEMANDS A GREEN NEW DEAL,” referring to the
socialist plan to address climate change promoted by Ocasio-Cortez.
[…]
Evidence of El-Sayed’s true
political motivations also comes from the folks pouring support into his
campaign, including self-described socialist and Marxist Hasan Piker, who
has appeared alongside El-Sayed at Michigan college campuses.
[…]
“Abdulrahman Mohamed
El-Sayed sees the writing on the wall and is trying to pull the wool over
Michiganders’ eyes before it’s too late,” Natalie Baldassarre, national press
secretary for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.
“Americans overwhelmingly reject the Democrats’ radical socialist agenda, and
the left’s embrace of these toxic policies and candidates will come back to
haunt them in key races this November.”
