Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) declined to say whether Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is qualified to serve, telling Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power” on Tuesday that he “certainly haven’t sat down and compared” the candidates.
Asked directly by co-host Kailey Leinz whether El-Sayed is qualified to serve as Michigan’s next senator if he doesn’t denounce Hasan Piker and comments Piker has made, Sherman deflected to his own preferences instead of answering the question.
“There are hundreds of candidates running for Congress all over the country. I tend to support the Democrat, but — and I analyze a lot of House races. I don’t know. I haven’t — and I certainly haven’t sat down and compared. My first choice wouldn’t be Mike Rogers or Abdul. It would be someone else. In fact, I would have loved to see my colleague be nominated there. So, I don’t have a vote in Michigan. And, certainly, no one in Michigan has asked for my perspective.”
Leinz pressed further, clarifying that her question was about “moral and ethical qualifications” and whether the Piker controversy reflects a broader internal struggle within the Democratic Party.
Sherman was blunt about Piker himself, saying he “isn’t qualified to run for dogcatcher, nor would I support him for that, no matter which ticket he was on.” But he stopped short of applying that same standard to El-Sayed, arguing that sorting out what El-Sayed knew and said about Piker, and when, was too much work for a lawmaker with no vote in Michigan’s race.
“Whether, and the level of involvement and parsing the individual words and on which day did which Senate candidate say what and what did they know about what we now know about Hasan Piker, that’s a lot of work for somebody who doesn’t have a vote in Michigan.”
Sherman said that if the question involved California’s own ballot, which he said he studies closely, he would dig into both candidates’ connections to controversial figures like Piker. “I would analyze both candidates, and I’d particularly look to see, not only what did Piker say again and again, which is outrageous, but how closely connected is he with a particular Senate candidate,” he said.
Sherman added that his own first choice for the Michigan Senate seat would have been neither El-Sayed nor Republican Mike Rogers, but a different candidate entirely — without naming who that would be.
