Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday deflected questions regarding his past remarks that suggested a significant portion of the Dearborn community felt sadness following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," host Jake Tapper presented El-Sayed with audio, initially reported by The Washington Free Beacon, in which the candidate stated that "a lot of people" in Dearborn were sad about Khamenei's passing. Tapper pressed El-Sayed on why he would be concerned about offending supporters of Khamenei, noting that the Iranian leader was responsible for the deaths of many Iranians and proxy forces.
El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat running to succeed retiring Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., did not directly address Tapper's question. Instead, he criticized the host for focusing on his previous statements rather than the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict and its repercussions for Michigan.
"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," El-Sayed responded. He argued that the conversation should instead center on the recent deaths of U.S. service members in the Middle East, the justification for the conflict, and its economic impact on Michigan residents.
El-Sayed reiterated that his focus is on the residents of Michigan, stating, "I'm running for Senate in Michigan, and I think, here in Michigan, all of us are probably sad about the fact that we went to war that we never should have fought. I'd rather our money be spent here."
Tapper concluded by emphasizing that his question was specifically about El-Sayed's reluctance to alienate individuals in Dearborn, a city within Michigan, by potentially offending them over his comments about Khamenei's death.
Khamenei died on February 28, 2026.