Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, has apologized to the state's Jewish Democratic Caucus for comments he made in March following an attack on a synagogue. El-Sayed had linked the attack to actions in the Middle East, remarks that drew criticism for potentially justifying the violence.
"My comments may have been misconstrued to justify something I did not mean to justify," El-Sayed told reporters Saturday after addressing the caucus at a party convention in Lansing. "To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I'm really sorry. That was not my intention."
In March, a man attacked Temple Israel synagogue in a Detroit suburb by ramming his car into the building and firing at a security guard before dying by suicide. Reports indicated the attacker had lost relatives in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon the week prior.
At the time of the attack, El-Sayed released a video condemning the incident. He also stated, "hurt people hurt people," a phrase he said was a reference to the attacker's circumstances. Critics interpreted this as an attempt to justify the man's actions.
"What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context," El-Sayed said Saturday. "And you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain."
This apology marks an effort by El-Sayed to unify Democrats as he faces Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a general election race that could influence control of the Senate. El-Sayed is seeking to move past a series of controversies, including allegations of antisemitism and his association with commentator Hasan Piker.