Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday that Republican attacks on Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed amount to racism that “should appall every decent American,” firing back at comments from President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH).
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sanders responded to a string of recent remarks aimed at El-Sayed, who is running for the open Senate seat in Michigan. Cruz had said he believes El-Sayed is “a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood” and that “there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result.” Trump said “Michigan does not need a senator who’s on the side of the terrorists.” Moreno went further, saying El-Sayed “can be nowhere near Washington D.C.” and questioning whether he understands “that our rights come from God Almighty” and that “Jesus came here for our salvation.”
Host Margaret Brennan asked Sanders whether El-Sayed could actually govern given how hostile some of his future Senate colleagues have been toward him.
“What Cruz and Trump and Vance and others are saying is disgusting. It really is. And again, I don’t care if you disagree with Abdul- he believes in Medicare for all, he believes in taxing billionaires. Fine, you disagree with him on that, that’s fine. But that level of racism, overt, absolute racism, is frankly disgusting and should appall every decent American,” Sanders said.
Sanders predicted El-Sayed’s campaign would succeed despite the attacks. “The fact of the matter is that Abdul is running an extraordinary campaign, and I think what you’re going to see is a good victory in Michigan for him. People will rebel against that type of ugliness,” he said.
Brennan pressed Sanders on a separate point, noting that some Americans view criticism of U.S. aid to Israel, including language used by El-Sayed, as anti-Jewish rather than simple policy disagreement.
“For me, it’s a little bit personal. I am Jewish. My father’s family was wiped out by Hitler. Anti-Semitism is an extraordinarily disgusting and dangerous ideology that has killed millions and millions of lives in the last century. We cannot tolerate anti-Semitism period,” Sanders said.
He went on to argue that criticizing the Israeli government is distinct from anti-Semitism. “The reality is that right now in Israel you have a right-wing extremist government led by Netanyahu, who, in my view, and the view of many experts, has in fact committed genocide against the Palestinian people. To be critical of a racist extremist government in Israel, and to say that American taxpayers should not spend a nickel supporting that government is not anti-Semitism, it is attacking a right-wing government, and I would say the same about any other government on earth. Does not reflect the nature of the religion of the people who are in that country,” Sanders said.
