Democrats Care Too Much About Power To Distance Themselves From Terrorism Apologists

Democrat senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed is a terrorism apologist and a threat to our constitutional republic. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders care too much about power to put country over party, submitting themselves instead to the control of anarchists and Islamists or Islamist-adjacent politicians and public figures. Voters, however, can stand firm on Tuesday and declare, not on my watch. Whether it was El-Sayed’s “hurt people do hurt people” response to a terrorist attack on a Michigan synagogue, or his refusal to unequivocally condemn the Iranian government during his final senatorial debate against challenge Mike Rogers, El-Sayed’s own words have exposed his sympathy to terrorists. And those are just a couple of the Democrat’s public statements. In private, a leaked audio captured El-Sayed telling staffers he did not want to comment on the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today.” For all of El-Sayed’s efforts to paint concerns over his lies about his past support for the Muslim Brotherhood and his family’s alleged ties to that terrorist-supporting organization as Islamophobia, his own words and associations should doom the Democrat’s candidacy. El-Sayed’s asking “the America-loathing, jihadi-sympathizing, Jew-hating Hasan Piker” to travel to Michigan to campaign with him during the primary is the most well-known illustration of the Senate candidate’s purposeful associations with terrorist sympathizers. Piker infamously declared “America deserved 9/11,” and yet El-Sayed didn’t blink. But Piker isn’t El-Sayed’s only telling connection. As Chuck Ross reported earlier this week, El-Sayed sat for an interview in Dearborn, Michigan with Osama Siblani, the latter of whom called Hamas and Hezbollah “freedom fighters” and called for Israeli Jews to be sent “back to Poland.” Unfortunately, El-Sayed isn’t the only politician excusing terrorism. In response to the horrifying October 7, terrorist attacks in Israel, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud took to X to blamed Israel for the “tragic violence.” Hammoud also celebrated the renaming of a street in Dearborn after Siblani. And then, when a Christian pastor objected to having a street named in honor of a man who supported Hamas and Hezbollah, Hammoud declared he was not welcome in Dearborn. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani likewise has a sordid history of excusing terrorism. Before New Yorkers elected him mayor, Mamdani released the rap “song” “Salaam” praising the “Holy Land Five.” That group “funnel[ed] more than $12 million to the terror group Hamas.” Mamdani also refused — on multiple occasions — to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” notwithstanding increasing terrorism attacks against Jews, including in New York City. While some Democrats have publicly withdrawn support from El-Sayed and other like-minded politicians, the party as a whole has, at best, limited their response to chastising the various statements and associations that show a sympathy to terrorism. That is not enough. A free society cannot survive unless terrorists, supporters of terrorists, apologists for terrorists, and those who associate with any or all of the above, are driven from polite society and politics. That Democrats refuse to do so renders them complicit with the El-Sayeds and Mamdanis of their party, and will greenlight the rise of other terrorism-adjacent politicians in America. Leaders in the Democrat Party may not understand this reality, but hopefully Michigan voters do and on Tuesday will choose better than New York City did last election. Margot Cleveland is an investigative journalist and legal analyst and serves as The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. Margot’s work has been published at The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, the New Criterion, National Review Online, Townhall.com, the Daily Signal, USA Today, and the Detroit Free Press. She is also a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio programs and on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. Cleveland is also of counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland where you can read more about her greatest accomplishments—her dear husband and dear son. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity. 9/11Abdul El-SayedAbdullah HammoudIslamic extremismIsraelMichiganNew York CityOsama SiblaniterrorismZohran Mamdani