Michigan Senate Candidate Caught in ‘Defund the Police’ Reversal

Clear Facts

• Abdul El-Sayed explicitly called for defunding police in a 2020 radio interview, stating he wanted to disinvest from means of ‘incarcerating or killing’ people on the streets
• El-Sayed deleted multiple social media posts criticizing law enforcement before launching his Senate campaign
• The candidate now claims he never supported defunding police, despite CNN unearthing recorded evidence contradicting his recent denials

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed found himself in hot water Sunday when confronted with his own words from 2020 calling for defunding the police. The Democrat, who has repeatedly denied supporting such policies, was forced to defend video evidence during an appearance on CNN’s “Inside Politics.”

In a resurfaced radio interview from the George Floyd riots, El-Sayed made his position crystal clear.

“I believe that we do need to defund the police insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating or killing them on the streets. And in investing more in the means of educating and empowering, engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty, that we’ve allowed systematic racism to allow to fester in too many communities.”

When CNN host Manu Raju pressed El-Sayed about the contradiction between his past statements and current denials, the candidate attempted to reframe his comments.

“You know, what’s interesting about that comment is I go as far as defining what I mean by that. Do you disagree with investing in libraries and public services and social services? You fixate on the word ‘defund,’ but what I’m talking about is war material that we made too much of during the war in Iraq. And then, because we had too much of it, we had to find somewhere to sell it. So we sold it to a whole bunch to local police departments.”

Raju interrupted to ask whether the defund-the-police stance would hurt El-Sayed’s electability in November.

“Let me finish my answer, Manu. I actually don’t think it is. I think the vast majority of people agree that they want to get home safely every night. I think the way that we have thought about law enforcement is we answer every social problem with somebody with a gun, and you talk to folks in law enforcement with whom I’ve worked very closely, they’ll tell you they don’t want to go on those runs where they know that somebody is in mental crisis.”

El-Sayed continued defending his position, claiming his focus was on redirecting resources.

“So maybe instead of investing in war material for police, we invest in a safe retirement for them. And then, instead of sending a guy with a gun, we actually send a trained mental health professional.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I defined. And I think that’s exactly what people want. Now, if you want to keep talking about one particular word that was in vogue that I tried to define at the time, sure. But I think if we’re having a serious conversation about public safety, you’ll see that my perspective is in keeping with exactly what most people who are rational about this question are talking about, and what they want.”

The controversy deepened when it was revealed El-Sayed scrubbed his social media accounts of anti-police content before launching his Senate bid. One deleted June 2020 post read: “Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about.”

Earlier this month, when CNN first asked about the deleted tweets, El-Sayed flatly denied participating in defund-the-police efforts.

“Judge me by my work, I funded the system because it needed to be funded. Too often the conversation we have is fund or defund. The question that we don’t ask is, what kind of system do we really want? I want us to be investing in the kinds of interventions that actually protect people.”

The shifting explanations raise serious questions about El-Sayed’s honesty with Michigan voters. His attempt to distance himself from the radical defund-the-police movement appears to be crumbling under the weight of his own recorded statements.

El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

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