Former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat now running for US Senate in Michigan, speaks at a “Hands Off” protest at the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on April 5, 2025. Photo: Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed declined Sunday to explain why he had avoided commenting on the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei out of concern that some voters in Dearborn were mourning his death.

During a contentious CNN interview, anchor Jake Tapper cited leaked audio from a campaign strategy call in which El-Sayed told staffers, “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.”

Khamenei, who led Iran for decades, was killed in an Israeli strike in February.

“I thought that quote was interesting because the ayatollah has killed tens of thousands of innocent Iranians, not to mention the proxies that Iran has funded that have killed innocent civilians all over the Middle East,” Tapper said. “Why were you worried about offending people who support the ayatollah?”

El-Sayed did not directly answer the question. Instead, he accused Tapper of focusing excessively on Middle Eastern affairs while two additional American service members had just been killed in the ongoing war with Iran.

“Jake, on a day where we’re mourning the loss of two more service members in a war we never should have fought, I think all of us ought to step back and ask whether or not everybody in Michigan — frankly, everybody in America — shouldn’t be sad about the fact that this president, backed by the prime minister of a foreign government, took us to a war we had no business fighting in,” El-Sayed said.

“I was specifically asking you about comments you didn’t want to make because you didn’t want to offend people in Dearborn, which is in Michigan,” Tapper responded.

El-Sayed’s original remarks were reported in March by The Washington Free Beacon, which said it had obtained audio of a private campaign call held one day after Khamenei’s death.

According to the recording, El-Sayed warned his staff that reporters might ask whether the strike was justified and advised against engaging with the question.

“We have the moral high ground here,” he said, adding that journalists would attempt to “bait” the campaign into acknowledging that eliminating Khamenei may have been warranted.

The exchange comes two weeks before Michigan’s Aug. 4 Democratic Senate primary, in which El-Sayed is competing against US Rep. Haley Stevens for the nomination to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

El-Sayed, a physician and former Wayne County health official, is running as the progressive candidate in a race that has increasingly become a referendum on the Democratic Party’s approach to Israel and the Middle East.

He has accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, called it a “rogue state,” and argued that its government and the Hamas terrorist organization are both “evil.” He has also questioned US support for maintaining Israel as a specifically Jewish state.

El-Sayed has campaigned alongside left-wing political streamer Hasan Piker, who endorsed his candidacy and appeared with him at events in Michigan. During one such appearance, El-Sayed denounced the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and accused it of influencing lawmakers to support the war against Iran.

His campaign has sought to redirect attention toward domestic issues, particularly health care, affordability, and the economy. El-Sayed argued Sunday that CNN’s questions about Israel and Iran were overshadowing those concerns.

The Michigan contest has nevertheless emerged as one of the country’s most closely watched Democratic primaries. Pro-Israel groups have spent heavily to support Stevens, while progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have rallied behind El-Sayed.

The winner will face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November in a race expected to help determine control of the Senate.