Dem Michigan AG Calls For El-Sayed to ‘Tone Down His Rhetoric’ Amid Spate of Antisemitic Threats

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) called out Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) for making Israel and AIPAC the “central villain” in every gripe he has during a Monday interview on MS NOW.

Nessel went off on El-Sayed when State of Play host Peter Alexander asked “what responsibility” El-Sayed and other Dems have to combat rising anti-Semitism and make Jewish Democrats like her “feel safe” at the party’s upcoming nominating convention in Michigan. Nessel said in late July she would skip the convention over fears for her safety.

“First of all, I’d like him to tone down his rhetoric a little bit,” Nessel said. “And what I mean by that is, AIPAC — which many of us do not support or agree with — and Israel, with many of us who do not support or agree with their government or the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu, they cannot be the central villain in literally every story.”

She continued:

If we’re talking about reforming healthcare, which all of us want to do in the party, it’s not AIPAC that is responsible for those problems, it’s the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. If we wanna combat climate change, that’s not AIPAC and Israel that’s responsible, that’s big oil and fossil fuel industry.

If it’s the housing crisis, let’s look at private equity firms and real estate trade organizations.

Not everything is about AIPAC, not everything is about Israel.

Nessel added if Israel was “wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow,” those issues would still remain for Michiganders.

Her comments follow El-Sayed routinely bashing Israel during his successful bid to win Michigan’s Democratic primary. El-Sayed claimed Israel was just as “evil” as Hamas during an April appearance on CNN, and he accused AIPAC of “legalized bribery” by giving to his primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI).

A moment earlier in her interview, Nessel ripped the Democratic nominating convention for allowing five people charged with “anti-Semitic acts of vandalism and harassment and threats” to attend the event. She said it was “baffling” they were going to be there later this month.

Watch above.

Jason Cohen contributed to this story. 

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!