Michigan Democratic Senate candidate and self-described \u201ccapitalist\u201d Abdul El-Sayed has deep socialist ties that run straight through New York City\u2019s radical elite, The Post can reveal.<\/p>\n
A newly surfaced, now viral 2019 photo tied him this week to notorious<\/a> Israel-hating socialist Linda Sarsour, who at the time proudly called him DSA\u2019s \u201cnewest member.\u201d<\/p>\n The bombshell photo ties El-Sayed to powerful Democratic Socialists of America activists like Sarsour, exploding his debate<\/a>-night claims that he\u2019s not part of the far-left group. <\/p>\n Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed got backing for his 2018 campaign for governor and his 2026 Senate campaign from New York socialists. Getty Images<\/p>\n The scandal erupted just after a fiery televised showdown Thursday against GOP rival Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who trails El-Sayed by a razor-thin 3 points in the RealClearPolitics average.<\/p>\n But the connection is no one-off encounter \u2014 a Post review has found Sarsour has backed \u201cUncle Abdul\u201d for nearly a decade \u2014 and it\u2019s now part of the secret to his surprising success.<\/p>\n Sarsour, 46, is a figure of national reputation whose efforts helped give rise to NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 the nation\u2019s first socialist mayor. <\/p>\n She helped deliver the lefty \u201cSquad\u201d in Congress after serving as executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and co-founding online mobilizing group MPower Change \u2013 while facing repeated accusations of antisemitism<\/a> along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cLinda Sarsour has spent years building a political network to elect far-left candidates who share her anti-American worldview, and Abdul El-Sayed has hardly concealed his own hardline ideological commitments,\u201d said Jesse Arm, vice president of the Manhattan Institute. <\/p>\n \u201cThe ascendant far left is not merely a collection of radical candidates, but an organized political movement with the infrastructure and relationships to translate its Islamist-sympathetic, anti-Western agenda into political power.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarsour\u2019s support for El-Sayed dates back to his failed 2018 bid for governor against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), when she drove with Muslim activists from New York to Michigan to back him, gushing that she was \u201ctransformed\u201d by meeting him and that God had \u201csent me the Abdul El-Sayed for Governor campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt led me to my beloved communities in Michigan to build, strategize, inspire and expand an electorate,\u201d she wrote, adding that she had coached another socialist \u2014 future \u201csquad\u201d Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) \u2014 by telling her \u201cyou were made for this\u201d before her own successful run.<\/p>\n Katherine Brezler posted an image of Michigan candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed online, tagging New York Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour and writing that she \u201csays this is a pic of me and the newest member of @detroitdsa.\u201d KatBrezler\/X<\/p>\n She appeared with him onstage in Ann Arbor, Michigan at a town hall in December 2017 she told the crowd, \u201cI have the audacity to believe we can make history and put the first Muslim governor in office\u201d and said she wasn\u2019t beholden to any political party but is drawn to El-Sayed because he is a progressive.<\/p>\n Then she boasted of raising an eye-popping $27 million for Bernie Sanders\u2019 2016 presidential campaign in a month. \u201cEvery one of us has something to give,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Eight years later, her support is unwavering. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very CLEAR to me and has been. @AbdulElSayed is THE CHOICE for U.S. Senate race in Michigan!\u201d\u00a0Sarsour posted on Instagram in May, urging people to knock on doors for him. \u201cSo proud of Dr. Abdul and his incredible movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Linda Sarsour has gushed about El-Sayed online and donated to his Senate campaign. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Sarsour, who didn\u2019t respond to a call seeking comment, donated $1,000 to El-Sayed\u2019s Senate campaign a week before the Aug. 4 primary, the same amount she gave to socialist New York House candidate Darializa Avila<\/a> Chevalier<\/a>, who wrote an incendiary post about using the American flag as a napkin.<\/p>\n Sarsour\u2019s allies and political associates regard her as a power broker and mentor in the growing socialist movement. <\/p>\n She has played a controversial role in progressive politics since emerging as an organizer of the 2017 Women\u2019s March<\/a>, only to step down<\/a> under pressure two years later. She has helped mentor Mamdani\u2019s political circle, backed the boycott movement against Israel, faced accusations of antisemitism and argued that feminism is incompatible with Zionism.<\/p>\n She also built a long trail of incendiary statements about Israel and occasionally the US, which she accused of being built on<\/a> \u201cgenocide & slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n The Michigan-born El-Sayed has an NYC connection. He lived in the Big Apple from 2015-2018 while attending medical school at Columbia University. That stint caused him residency issues in his gubernatorial campaign when he needed to demonstrate residency in the Wolverine State.<\/p>\n The Detroit DSA account responded to the post by writing \u201cWelcome to the team comrade @AbdulElSayed!\u201d But El-Sayed calls himself a capitalist and his campaign told The Post: \u201cAbdul has said he is not a socialist. He is a capitalist and he has never been a member of the DSA.\u201d KatBrezler\/X<\/p>\n El-Sayed is backed by Gustavo Gordillo, 38, co-chair of the DSA\u2019s NYC chapter. \u201cAt LaGuardia going to Detroit and everyone on the flight is going to canvass,\u201d he hyped<\/a> on X. <\/p>\n It was El-Sayed\u2019s apparent connection to the Detroit branch of the DSA and Sanders that came together in the 2019 photo which threatens to close the purposeful distance he keeps from the socialist party.<\/p>\n In the photo, Katherine Brezler, who works for the Queens borough president, smiled for a selfie with El-Sayed, tagging Sarsour and writing that she was pictured with \u201cthe newest member of @detroitdsa.\u201d<\/p>\n The Detroit DSA thanked \u201cfriend and ally\u201d El-Sayed after he backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) campaign for president. DetroitDSA\/X<\/p>\n The Detroit DSA chimed in: \u201cWelcome to the team comrade @AbdulElSayed!\u201d The group added: \u201c@OrganizerJess36 \u2014 you did it!\u201d<\/p>\n That appears to be a reference to Jessica Newman, a Detroit DSA member who helps run the Michigan Education Justice Coalition, and who once posted about getting \u201ccuddles\u201d from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s French bulldog<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Gordillo, 38 \u2014 who The Post in August revealed<\/a> is living in his parent\u2019s $1.5 million Brooklyn home after faking working-class credentials \u2014 snapped a picture of fellow socialists aboard an August flight to Detroit to campaign for El-Sayed in his primary fight against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).<\/p>\n