Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat whose academic work has drawn scrutiny over its discussion of marriage across ethnic lines, has handled what Mayor Zohran Mamdani described as racist attacks against him “admirably,” Mamdani said this week.
The socialist New York mayor praised El-Sayed’s approach to his closely watched Senate campaign against former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan. Mamdani’s comments came just hours before El-Sayed publicly clashed with Rep. Haley Stevens, his leading Democratic primary opponent, in the campaign’s final stretch.
“A race of that magnitude is difficult enough as it is; to have to contend with blatantly racist attacks on a regular basis, and the silence of so many around him in the face of that — that is immensely difficult,” Mamdani told WNYC on Thursday. “And I have had to experience a version of it in our own mayoral race.”
Mamdani said candidates facing such attacks must depend on their allies while trying to keep the campaign focused on their preferred terms. “When we are speaking about millions of dollars being spent trafficking in that same racism, it becomes incredibly difficult to both respond to it and continue to move forward,” he said, adding that El-Sayed was meeting the challenge “admirably.”
President Trump and Rogers have focused their criticism of El-Sayed on an alleged family connection to the Muslim Brotherhood rather than explicitly framing it around race. Trump has called El-Sayed a “jihadist,” while Vice President JD Vance has referred to him as a “psychopath.”
During his time at Columbia Medical School, El-Sayed — who has repeatedly described himself as a physician despite not completing a medical residency — co-authored a paper examining health outcomes among Arab women in relationships with partners from different ethnic backgrounds.
MUST READ: Who is Monica Sementilli, and What Allegations Does She Face? – NewsFinale
The 2011 study, published in the “Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health,” discussed the potential risks of what it called “interethnic mating,” including an increased likelihood of premature birth.
The paper was among several works by El-Sayed that critics have characterized as heavily focused on race and religion.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, criticized the research on X, describing it as “science” with “a pre-ordained racist & eugenics outcome” and calling it “scary stuff.”
Mamdani was also asked about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s support for El-Sayed, who is campaigning on Medicare for All and has called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. Mamdani and El-Sayed have both been linked politically to socialist activist Linda Sarsour, a prominent critic of Israel.
Ocasio-Cortez has said a Democratic victory in Michigan would demonstrate that “anyone can win anywhere.” However, Mamdani declined to say whether he would like to see the New York congresswoman pursue a presidential campaign.
The member of the House’s “Squad” is highlighting her national fundraising operation in a new appeal scheduled for Saturday, while recent victories by socialist candidates could further raise her profile.
“I want to see AOC do whatever it is that AOC wants to do,” Mamdani said.