Pelosi Criticizes El-Sayed’s Israel Views, Reaffirms Support

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s views on Israel during an appearance on the On Brand podcast, saying they were wrong and did not reflect Democrats in Congress. She also said, “This new person in Michigan, we’ll see if he gets elected to the Congress.” The exchange followed host Donny Deutsch’s comments about whether Israel should be a Jewish state. Deutsch described such opposition as antisemitic and named El-Sayed and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Pelosi responded that the views were “more than concerning” and “wrong,” while distinguishing them from the position of congressional Democrats. Pelosi also said she did not know of Democratic members engaged in antisemitism. She allowed that some remarks could be interpreted that way, but said such cases were few. She said House members would disassociate themselves from statements of that kind and noted that representatives speak for their districts. El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers, has faced questions over his statements about Israel. In an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan, he said he did not...