Sanders says GOP rhetoric on El-Sayed 'should appall every decent American'

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday condemned Republican attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat running for Michigan's Senate seat, saying the rhetoric about El-Sayed's ethnicity and religion "should appall every decent American" ¹².

Sanders spoke on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," where he named President Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas among the Republican surrogates making the comments ¹². Republicans have called El-Sayed a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and implied that electing him could be deadly to Americans, according to the CBS report ¹.

El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator, has denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood and condemned the comments ¹. The Trump administration earlier this year designated certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups ¹.

That level of racism, overt absolute racism, is frankly disgusting and should appall every decent American

Sanders also addressed the rift between El-Sayed and his former primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who last week called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside group's ad linking U.S. military aid to Israel to rising grocery prices, which she characterized as antisemitic ¹². El-Sayed accused her of "relitigating a primary that ended three months ago," and on Saturday said the ad "was not made by me" and that he disagrees with its contents ¹².

From Channel GOPEl-Sayed answers Trump mangling his nameAbdul El-Sayed · 151 plays · captioned, with the source named

Sanders said of Stevens: "Haley Stevens lost a very, very close primary. I can understand being upset about that" ¹². He argued that Michiganders will see the bigger picture and stand with El-Sayed against "somebody who will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Trump administration. That's Mike Rogers" ¹².

Shortly after Sanders' appearance, Stevens publicly endorsed Rogers, the Republican in the race, saying "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign" ¹². She added that "who we are as Michiganders is not hate and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now" ¹².

El-Sayed on Sunday did not reference Stevens by name, saying instead: "this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from their government. I'm a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones who are talking about" ¹².

Sanders draws on family history

Sanders, who is Jewish, referenced his own family's history to address how some Jewish Michiganders may feel about El-Sayed's criticism of Israel ¹². "My father's family was wiped out by Hitler," he said, calling anti-Semitism "an extraordinarily disgusting and dangerous ideology" ¹².

But Sanders argued that criticism of Israel's government is not the same as anti-Semitism: "To be critical of a racist, extremist government in Israel, and to say that American taxpayers should not spend a nickel supporting that government is not anti-Semitism" ¹². He added: "It is attacking a right-wing government, and I would say the same about any other government on earth" ¹².

That matters because the Michigan Senate race is one of the contests deciding control of the Senate in Tuesday's midterm election ¹².

Sanders' defense of El-Sayed and Stevens' endorsement of Rogers put both on the record within hours of each other ¹².

The Record

1. Nov 1, 2026Sanders says Republican rhetoric about El-Sayed "should appall every decent American" on "Face the Nation" ¹².
2. Nov 1, 2026Rep. Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers shortly after Sanders' appearance ¹².

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<h2>Sanders says GOP rhetoric on El-Sayed &#39;should appall every decent American&#39;</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Campaign Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/sanders-says-gop-rhetoric-on-el-sayed-should-appall-every-decent-american">The GOP Files</a> on Sunday, November 1, 2026.</em></p> <p>Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday condemned Republican attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat running for Michigan&#39;s Senate seat, saying the rhetoric about El-Sayed&#39;s ethnicity and religion &quot;should appall every decent American&quot; .</p> <p>Sanders spoke on &quot;Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,&quot; where he named President Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas among the Republican surrogates making the comments . Republicans have called El-Sayed a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and implied that electing him could be deadly to Americans, according to the CBS report .</p> <p>El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator, has denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood and condemned the comments . The Trump administration earlier this year designated certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups .</p> <blockquote><p>That level of racism, overt absolute racism, is frankly disgusting and should appall every decent American</p><p>&mdash; Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator, independent of Vermont</p></blockquote> <p>Sanders also addressed the rift between El-Sayed and his former primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who last week called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside group&#39;s ad linking U.S. military aid to Israel to rising grocery prices, which she characterized as antisemitic . El-Sayed accused her of &quot;relitigating a primary that ended three months ago,&quot; and on Saturday said the ad &quot;was not made by me&quot; and that he disagrees with its contents .</p> <p>Sanders said of Stevens: &quot;Haley Stevens lost a very, very close primary. I can understand being upset about that&quot; . He argued that Michiganders will see the bigger picture and stand with El-Sayed against &quot;somebody who will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Trump administration. That&#39;s Mike Rogers&quot; .</p> <p>Shortly after Sanders&#39; appearance, Stevens publicly endorsed Rogers, the Republican in the race, saying &quot;I don&#39;t belong in Abdul&#39;s campaign&quot; . She added that &quot;who we are as Michiganders is not hate and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now&quot; .</p> <p>El-Sayed on Sunday did not reference Stevens by name, saying instead: &quot;this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from their government. I&#39;m a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones who are talking about&quot; .</p> <h2>Sanders draws on family history</h2> <p>Sanders, who is Jewish, referenced his own family&#39;s history to address how some Jewish Michiganders may feel about El-Sayed&#39;s criticism of Israel . &quot;My father&#39;s family was wiped out by Hitler,&quot; he said, calling anti-Semitism &quot;an extraordinarily disgusting and dangerous ideology&quot; .</p> <p>But Sanders argued that criticism of Israel&#39;s government is not the same as anti-Semitism: &quot;To be critical of a racist, extremist government in Israel, and to say that American taxpayers should not spend a nickel supporting that government is not anti-Semitism&quot; . He added: &quot;It is attacking a right-wing government, and I would say the same about any other government on earth&quot; .</p> <p>That matters because the Michigan Senate race is one of the contests deciding control of the Senate in Tuesday&#39;s midterm election .</p> <p>Sanders&#39; defense of El-Sayed and Stevens&#39; endorsement of Rogers put both on the record within hours of each other .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/sanders-says-gop-rhetoric-on-el-sayed-should-appall-every-decent-american">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/sanders-says-gop-rhetoric-on-el-sayed-should-appall-every-decent-american.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. CBS News, “Sanders says GOP rhetoric about El-Sayed "should appall" Americans” (2026-11-01). cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-abdul-el-sayed-campaign-repu
2. WGHN, “Sanders says GOP rhetoric about El-Sayed “should appall” Americans | WGHN” (2026-11-01). wghn.com/2026/11/01/sanders-says-gop-rhetoric-about-el-sayed

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