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Confusion, Disbelief, And Anger: Why Michigan Voters Flocked To Radical Leftist Abdul El-Sayed

We went to Michigan to figure out what the pundits missed.

DETROIT—By the time Abdul El-Sayed defeated former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in Michigan, it was not entirely surprising. But many Americans were left wondering: Why did voters flock to such a radical leftist?

The Daily Wire spoke to dozens of El-Sayed voters in the day leading up to the election, which the Democrat won with just over 52% of the vote. Three main themes emerged, each shedding light on a different aspect of El-Sayed's appeal, some of which pundits failed to grasp.

The least surprising reason given for El-Sayed's success is his message on affordability. Like other Democrats who rode Tuesday's "blue wave" to victory, El-Sayed ran on a platform that included both universal health care and education, as well as pledges to tax billionaires and put money in Americans' pockets through government regulation.

Several voters told The Daily Wire that El-Sayed's affordability message drove their vote — though not all of them were able to articulate the candidate's policies.

One El-Sayed supporter told The Daily Wire she didn't know what his proposals would look like in practice and that it was difficult for her to find information on the topic. She was also unsure how El-Sayed planned to pay for his plans.

Another theme that emerged from The Daily Wire's conversations was that El-Sayed voters were not bothered by his refusal to denounce the Muslim Brotherhood. In a June 24, 2012, social media post, Eman Abdelhadi, El-Sayed's half-sister, said, "My family has long been MB." She added just days later that she had "had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college."

But that wasn't enough evidence for many El-Sayed supporters, with one telling The Daily Wire that the claim of El-Sayed's terrorist connection "just was propaganda from the right."

El-Sayed has denied that he or his family have ties to the organization, but repeatedly refused to condemn the group, a radical Islamist front whose Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches the United States government has designated as terrorist groups.

"I would need more proof that he is," one El-Sayed voter said. "And even if he is, why is it a bad thing?"

Perhaps the most interesting dynamic among El-Sayed voters was their confusion about the candidate's radical views on gender. Unlike Texas Senator-elect James Talarico, who attempted to walk back his past statements on transgender surgeries for children, El-Sayed never wavered on the subject, leading many to question why he enjoyed such support from conservative Muslims.

Some voters in that camp who spoke to The Daily Wire seemed unaware that El-Sayed supported things like child gender transitions. But still others expressed a different understanding of his views on transgender issues. One Muslim El-Sayed voter stressed that the senator-elect "knows" transgenderism is wrong.

"He's a Muslim," the voter's wife answered.

El-Sayed supporters were also largely unbothered by the denunciation of their favored candidate by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), El-Sayed's primary rival who endorsed Rogers days before the election. Stevens, who narrowly lost to El-Sayed and initially endorsed him, broke with her fellow Democrat over his radical anti-Israel views,

Stevens said she asked El-Sayed to clearly reject rhetoric from his close friend Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator who said America "deserved" the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"I asked Abdul to reject that rhetoric clearly. I wasn't asking him to change his platform," Stevens said. "I was offering him an opportunity to reassure people, reject division, and demonstrate the leadership required of a United States Senator."

Rogers told The Daily Wire before the result that he could "absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt" feel the impact of Stevens' endorsement.

"What it did is, it gave a lot of folks permission," Rogers said. "We talked to a lot of people who were undecided or on the fence, weren't sure what to do. This just helps them, I think, clarify."

One voter did tell The Daily Wire that Stevens' endorsement of Rogers made him waver. He still voted for El-Sayed.

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