Leaked audio from a campaign strategy session has caught a progressive Michigan Senate candidate instructing staffers to avoid any comment on the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to avoid upsetting people who are “sad” about his well-deserved annihilation.

Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and the most left-leaning candidate in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, told campaign aides during a March 1 strategy session that he planned to sidestep the Khamenei question entirely given the sensitivities of his target voter base.

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

El-Sayed also suggested pivoting to criticism of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “You know what benefits from the war? It benefits Israel, who has captured too many of our politicians through AIPAC contributions,” he said.

Dearborn, Michigan — the city El-Sayed was referencing — has the largest per capita concentration of Arab-Americans and Muslims in the United States and is predominantly Shiite. Khamenei, who was killed by Israeli strikes on the first day of the Iran campaign, held the title of ayatollah under Shia Islam in addition to his role as supreme leader.

When the leaked recording surfaced, El-Sayed’s campaign did not dispute its contents but alleged it had been obtained illegally by a disgruntled former staffer. Campaign lawyers contacted the Washington Free Beacon before publication warning of potential legal action.

“The campaign is considering its legal options against the individual in question,” the lawyers wrote.
In a public statement, El-Sayed kept his focus on the war. “Since this illegal and unjustifiable war has started, we’ve watched 13 brave service members lose their lives,” he said, adding that gas prices had risen more than a dollar per gallon.

El-Sayed is currently running third in the Democratic primary behind state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, ahead of the Aug. 4 contest. The seat, being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, is seen as a potential Republican pickup, with former Rep. Mike Rogers holding Trump’s endorsement on the GOP side.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)