CNN's Jake Tapper Asked This Leftist Michigan Senate Candidate About Israel and Iran. It Didn't Go Well.

Some polls show the race between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed tightening. Both are competing to become the next U.S. Senator from Michigan. El-Sayed is the openly left-wing candidate in this contest, though Stevens being labeled a moderate isn’t saying much—there are no moderate Democrats anymore.

El-Sayed likely expected a smooth interview on friendly CNN, but that was not the case, as host Jake Tapper decided to challenge the leftist candidate with questions about Israel and Iran. It did not go well (via The Hill):

Michigan Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (D) on Sunday ripped into CNN host Jake Tapper for asking him questions related to Iran and Israel — specifically about past comments the candidate has made.
Tapper first asked El-Sayed about a comment New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) made to The New York Times. When asked if there was room in the Democratic Party for candidates who take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — the pro-Israel lobbying group — the mayor said, “If they are Democrats and they run as Democrats and they win as Democrats, then they should be part of the Democratic Party.”
Tapper suggested that El-Sayed disagrees based on past remarks, where the candidate told CNN that support for Israel could only be about AIPAC influence and “not if you’re a Democrat and you believe in human rights.”
“So, it sounds as though — and correct me if I’m wrong — it sounds as though you and Mayor Mamdani disagree about how big this tent should be, whether there’s room … in the tent for Israel supporters,” Tapper said.
El-Sayed began saying that in the Democratic Party “there’s always room in the tent for folks.”
“Every time I come on CNN, you guys ask me the same questions about these theoretical rights of existence, or whether or not I agree with the mayor of New York,” El-Sayed said.

Jake Tapper just pressed Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over his REFUSAL to comment on the death of Iran’s Ayatollah.

El-Sayed immediately tried to pivot away from the question, but Tapper wasn’t letting him off the hook.

TAPPER: “20 weeks ago when Iran’s supreme… pic.twitter.com/xeeiACgSUH
— Overton (@overton_news) July 19, 2026

TAPPER: “20 weeks ago when Iran’s supreme leader was killed, you told your staff, according to audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon; ‘There are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So like, I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei at all.’”
“I thought that quote was interesting because the Ayatollah has killed tens of thousands of innocent Iranians, not to mention the proxies that Iran has funded that have killed innocent civilians all over the Middle East.”
“Why were you worried about offending people who support the Ayatollah?”
EL-SAYED: “Jake, on a day where we’re mourning the loss of two more service members in a war we never should have fought, I think all of us ought to step back and ask whether or not everybody in Michigan, frankly, everybody in America, shouldn’t be sad about the fact that this president, backed by the prime minister of a foreign government, took us to a war we had no business fighting in.”
“So, yeah, I didn’t want to comment on it then, because it’s a ridiculous pretext.”
“And now you’re asking me about the Ayatollah, who’s dead, by the way, and you’re not asking me about the service members who’ve died.”
“You’re not asking me about whether or not this war should have ever been fought. You’re not asking me about whether or not the costs that are being borne by Michiganders in the tax dollars we pay, or the gas prices that are insane right now are worth it…”
TAPPER: “I was specifically asking you about comments you didn’t want to make, because you didn’t want to offend people in Dearborn, which is in Michigan…”

Well, that was fun. If they want to be, CNN can dole out some heat on candidates who have no business being this close to power.

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