Michigan Senate ElSayed Scrutinized Over 2020 Defund

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul ElSayed is facing scrutiny over his past statements endorsing the defund the police movement, which directly contradict his recent denials. As the frontrunner in the August 4 primary, ElSayed has insisted he never called for defunding law enforcement, but audio recordings and archived social media posts from 2020 show him explicitly supporting the policy.

In a June 2020 interview with Detroit Public Radio, ElSayed stated, "I believe that we do need to defund the police," and elaborated that defunding meant "disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets and investing more in the means of educating and empowering and engaging communities." In the same interview, he acknowledged avoiding the hashtag while endorsing the concept, explaining his strategy was to describe the policy goals without using the politically charged slogan. Multiple reviews of his media appearances from that period found similar endorsements of redirecting funds from police departments to social services like mental health, education, and anti-poverty programs.

His social media activity from June 2020 reinforced this position. In...