Top Dem hopeful flips script after years in socialist orbit with puzzling claim
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has a long history of attending events hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) despite his insistence that he is not a socialist.Between 2017...
By Fox News · Fox News
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has a long history of attending events hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) despite his insistence that he is not a socialist. Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six events held by the DSA, including a 2019 fundraiser which he headlined. Despite the longstanding relationship, El-Sayed has distanced himself from the DSA when interviewed by the press and outright rejected being labeled as a "socialist." "I'm not technically or practically DSA," El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In an interview with CNN, he similarly stated that "I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated." FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: VOTERS SAY THEY’RE IN ECONOMIC PAIN, BUT WILL DEMOCRATS GAIN? While El-Sayed has made a point to separate himself from the DSA, the organization made it clear that the two were close. At the 2019 event, which raised $10,000 for the organization, El-Sayed was described by DSA organizers as "a longtime friend of Detroit DSA." He was photographed smiling next to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a self-described socialist, behind a table with a poster on it depicting a hand labeled "DSA" choking a snake labeled "capitalism." El-Sayed’s first recorded appearance at a DSA event was during his run for Michigan governor in 2017. Other DSA events he spoke at focused on Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS The Washington Free Beacon first reported on El-Sayed’s attendance at the DSA events. El-Sayed faces Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate, in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. Some have speculated that his efforts to distance himself from the DSA are part of a strategy to appeal to Michigan’s relatively evenly split electorate. In addition to his years-long relationship with the DSA, self-described socialists have also thrown their su…