Dem Senate candidate would not say a word about Ayatollah killing because Muslims in Dearborn were 'sad' about his death

Newly released audio has revealed a Democrat candidate running for the US Senate in Michigan telling staffers he wants to avoid taking a position on the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran due to people in Dearborn being "sad" about the Iranian leader’s death.

The audio, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, showed candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaking with his communications team on March 1, during which they discussed his messaging surrounding the United States’ Operation Epic Fury. The meeting came one day after the military operation was launched in Iran, with Khamenei being taken out in the initial rounds of strikes from the US and Israel.

He said that if reporters pressed him to take a position, he would change the subject to Donald Trump and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. "I'm just gonna go straight to pedophilia, frankly. I'll just be like, 'Pedophile president decides that he doesn't like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war,'" he said.

"I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So, like, I just don't want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don't think it's worth even touching that," he added. Dearborn became the US’ first Arab-majority city in 2023, and has the largest Muslim population per capita of any American city.

The campaign’s lawyers from the DC-based Sandler Reiff law firm told the Free Beacon when reached for a comment, "I write to inform you that the audio recording that you base the below questions on was obtained without the campaign's permission, and without knowledge that individuals were being recorded. The campaign is considering its legal options against the individual in question. Given these circumstances, the campaign expects that you will take this into account in determining whether to proceed with any reporting on this matter."

El-Sayed is running to replace Democrat Gary Peters in the Senate, who announced in January 2025 that he would not be seeking reelection. Also running in the race are State Senator Mallory McMorrow and US Rep. Haley Stevens, both Democrats, and former US Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running as a Republican.

El-Sayed also proposed pivoting away from questions about the deceased Ayatollah by criticizing Israel and pro-Israel groups in the US. "You know what benefits [from the war]? It benefits Israel, who has captured too many of our politicians through AIPAC contributions," he said.

His advisors said they were nervous about his messaging surrounding Israel, saying, "Israel's issue always just makes me a little nervous."

El-Sayed replied, "I can shade away from it, but if I'm going to take the shot, I can't just allude to it. I got to take the whole shot, which means that I'm going to say, 'Look, you've got AIPAC-backed congress people who now don't want to empower Congress to step up and enforce its own prerogative.' Ask yourself who that benefits and why? Ask yourself how powerful that force is in our politics if they won't even stand up to a president who's making illegal and unjustified war?"