Posts Show Past Support for El-Sayed from Democratic Socialists

Unearthed social media posts indicate past support for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, from the Detroit chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). In 2019, the group referred to El-Sayed as a "comrade" in a post celebrating his climate advocacy and later praised his endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

While the DSA has not officially endorsed El-Sayed's current Senate bid, the local chapter's past support could raise questions about his platform and its alignment with socialist tenets, particularly as El-Sayed has recently embraced the "capitalist" label. In a recent interview, El-Sayed defined capitalism as leveraging supply and demand to allocate capital and maximize value, adding that supporting government regulation to protect markets is a capitalist principle. He stated, "You don’t have to be a socialist to believe that you should be taxing billionaires their wealth. In fact, if you are a capitalist, you should believe in that."

El-Sayed has advocated for policies such as Medicare for All, increased taxes on top earners, and stricter penalties for businesses that abuse natural resources. During his 2018 campaign for Michigan governor, he also supported similar policies and garnered DSA support, particularly for his climate platform. At one point, El-Sayed joined a call to seize General Motors plants after the company announced job cuts, a move supported by the Detroit DSA.

"Today, Abdul El-Sayed signed onto our bold demand to seize abandoned [General Motors] plants and convert them into green, public use," the group wrote at the time. "This is the courage and vision we need from our leaders to make the Green New Deal a reality."

El-Sayed was among 140 co-signers for a resolution stating that such facilities "belong to the workers who have contributed their labor, and the taxpayers who have provided enormous tax breaks, public subsidies and bailouts to GM."

Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed reportedly spoke at six events hosted by DSA chapters, including serving as the keynote speaker at a 2019 fundraiser. Officials from the DSA told Politico in July that they were mobilizing resources to support El-Sayed in the Democratic primary. However, El-Sayed told The Wall Street Journal in July, "I'm not technically or practically DSA."

Socialist organizers, however, have described him as "a longtime friend of Detroit DSA." Posts from the group's social media also referred to him as a "special guest speaker" at their annual dinners.

The national platform of the DSA includes positions such as abolishing the U.S. Senate, establishing public ownership of major corporations, and defunding the Department of Defense, stances that El-Sayed has not publicly supported.

El-Sayed cleared the Democratic primary and is set to face Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers on November 3.