Abdul El-Sayed's self-esteem appears to be doing just fine. Michigan's Democrat nominee for Senate was asked during a May podcast about being called radical for policies such as Medicare for All, and he responded by reaching for Jesus Christ.
"Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, was considered radical in his time too," El-Sayed said. He added that there is something radical about standing forthright during a time of corruption. The host suggested El-Sayed's politics resembled Jesus' teachings, but El-Sayed certainly didn't run away from the comparison.
Somebody may want to mention one historical detail before El-Sayed gets too comfortable with the comparison.
Jesus was Jewish.
Here's my shocked face!
A Muslim candidate is perfectly free to invoke Jesus. The interesting part is watching El-Sayed use Jesus to defend his own political radicalism while making hostility toward Israel one of the clearest parts of his foreign policy agenda.
This is not the first time El-Sayed has invoked Jesus while justifying his socialist agenda. Last week, he told leftist podcaster Jennifer Welch the teachings of Jesus were “about upending the system against the richest and most powerful and the ways that they used their power and their money to subjugate other people. Like, that was the essential teaching.”
The argument is often used by leftists and “progressive” Christians to justify allowing government redistribution of wealth in the name of compassion. However, in the Christian faith, Jesus came, not to “upend the system,” but to completely fulfill Mosaic law, live a sinless life, and then die on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, so that those who have faith in him and repent may be reconciled with a holy God and live with Him eternally.
El Sayed says attacks on his name and Muslim faith no longer define the debate arguing voters care less about how he prays and more about what he stands for while invoking the teachings of Jesus to challenge the power of the wealthy and political elite#NYI pic.twitter.com/MPBHWIhyII
— NewYork-Insight (@NewYork_Insight) August 11, 2026
His campaign supports an immediate arms embargo on Israel and rejects any distinction between offensive and defensive weapons.
El-Sayed has called Hamas evil, so there's no reason to pretend he's professed love for the terrorist organization. His real position gives voters enough to judge. Asked whether Israel's government was as evil as Hamas, he said yes. He called both evil and labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.
He also defended campaigning with political streamer Hasan Piker after Piker said he would choose Hamas over Israel "every single time." Piker has also stood behind his claim that Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel.
El-Sayed dismissed criticism of campaigning with him as cancel culture.
Political candidates quote Scripture every day. They invoke faith, justice, mercy, sacrifice, and service. El-Sayed went further. Faced with criticism that his politics are radical, he reached for one of history's most consequential religious figures and reminded everyone that Jesus was considered radical too.
Jesus wasn't campaigning for Medicare for All, an Israeli arms embargo, or a Senate seat in Michigan. Turning Christ into supporting evidence for a 2026 political platform tells us far more about El-Sayed's view of El-Sayed than it tells us about Jesus.
Michigan voters can decide whether El-Sayed belongs in the United States Senate. Before Election Day, somebody might gently remind him of two things: Jesus was Jewish, and humility was a fairly important part of His message.
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