Contrary to the RealClearPolitics headline here, he didn’t actually say that his only jihad was the struggle against medical debt. As a self-proclaimed Sharia-adherent Muslim, it can be reasonably assumed that he wants to bring Sharia here. But Katy Tur didn’t ask him that. If only we had some real journalists.
“Abdul El-Sayed: My Only ‘Jihad’ Is Against Medical Debt, Money In Politics,” by Tim Hains, RealClearPolitics, August 30, 2026:
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told MSNBC’s Katy Tur, in response to President Trump referring to him as a “jihadist,” tat the only “jihad” he is part of is against medical debt. El-Sayed, a medical doctor, would be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate….
KATY TUR: Let’s talk about the president of the United States. He has called you a jihadist. Republicans are saying you have no business in the Senate. If you are elected, you will be the first Muslim senator. They’re going after your faith.
I would just love to hear from you what your faith means to you and how you think it has to do with your politics.
ABDUL EL-SAYED: You know, if there’s any jihad, it’s going to be the one against medical debt. So I implore Donald Trump: If you’re interested in taking on medical debt, come join me. Taking on money in politics, come join me….
ABDUL EL-SAYED: To be anti-Israel is not the same as to be anti-Jewish, and to oppose what Israel has done is not an indictment on Jewish people.
I think we have a responsibility to stand up and remind folks that Judaism and the Jewish people are a light unto the world, that my commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to my own daughter’s safety. I know what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray.
But I do reject the idea that somehow criticizing Israel and Israel’s actions and a genocide that was perpetrated by our tax dollars is the same as the idea of rejecting anybody for their faith or their identity. We have to be able to separate the two.
Taffy says
“If only we had some real journalists.”
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.
The U.S. has declined into a state of mediocrity, from physicians to lawyers to electricians to plumbers to car mechanics to the Amazon delivery guy. Journalists are no exception. Very few interview with hard-hitting questions. Very few write balanced and coherent articles, even when using AI as a journalistic crutch. It’s a sad state of affairs; every job seems to be performed half-assed. There is a thin crust of true achievers on the top of each profession/trade, whose work you can count on. For everything else, it’s a crap shoot!
James Lincoln says
Taffy,
Back in the day, decades ago, journalists used to consider who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Back in the day…
ploome says
listening too essayed is like watching a “shell game”
The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game)
is a public gambling game that challenges players to follow the movement of a marker hidden under one of several covers (shells).
In practice, the game is almost always run as a confidence trick that uses sleight of hand to transfer the marker between covers. In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.
he needs an uninformed audience filled with resentment and grievance , and an ignorant reporter/interviewer who has not idea how to follow up.
ed says
taqiyya