The 15 Questions We DARE the Media to Ask Michigan Nutjob Abdul El-Sayed

In sales psychology, questions are more persuasive than statements — and it’s not even close. That’s because (scripted) questions can lead audiences towards a very specific conclusion, and our own conclusions are more credible than anyone else’s. 

If I tell you something, your defenses are up; when you tell yourself something, it’s almost certainly true.

Quick example: Grocery stores want you to return (over and over again). Their business model, after all, relies on customer loyalty. Therefore, grocery stores have a vested interest in shoppers leaving satisfied, happy, and content.

Which is why cashiers are trained to ask, “Did you find everything you’re looking for?”

Because, obviously, you already did — otherwise you wouldn’t be standing in the checkout line like an idiot. (That’s kinda-sorta how grocery stores work.) But if the cashier had told you, “I’m glad you found everything you’re looking for!” your eyes would narrow and you'd think: “You’re not me! How do you know what I was looking for? What a rude, presumptuous comment!”

Yet when she poses it as a question, we’re forced to connect the dots on our own: “Why, yes. I came to this store needing things, and now I’m leaving with EVERYTHING I was looking for. How ‘bout that!”

See? It’s psychologically more impactful.

My old sales mentor, the legendary Bob Circosta, used this technique to invent the home-shopping and infomercial sales pitch. Nine times out of 10, he’d open with a question — directly asking audiences about whatever problem his (latest) product was designed to solve. (Often consisting of: “Oh no, not again! Don’t you hate it when…”) 

Opening with a question accomplished three things:

Let’s flip this PR concept around with the Democrats' Senate candidate from Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed. He’s a socialist extremist, an anti-American bomb-thrower, and an Islamist who’s publicly declared an “obligation” to follow Sharia law until his dying day.

So what should we do?

Well, we could call him all of the above in a glitzy, expensive, multimedia ad campaign. And I’m sure it would have some impact. On El-Sayed’s social media and YouTube channel, there’s an abundance of opposition research. Reminding voters of his past extremism is smart politics.

But asking questions that lead audiences to consider what El-Sayed’s political beliefs really, truly mean — and helping voters connect the dots on their own — is even smarter.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have had a helluva winning streak. It’s now the biggest, most powerful bloc in the Democratic Party, supplanting black voters and minority women. More often than not, its message of socialism, class warfare, and class envy is a winner — especially in blue states. (Wish this wasn’t so, but it is.)

But when it goes off the rails, it’s almost always because of one thing: The candidate was just too flippin’ weird — and too un-American.

Francesca Hong didn’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Wisconsin because voters rejected socialism. She lost because she wanted to ban Thanksgiving, sounded like a raving lunatic, and gave voters the heebie-jeebies.

That’s our guiding principle: We want to ask El-Sayed questions that expose him as an anti-American nutjob whose beliefs are 100% incompatible with American traditions, American values, and America’s Constitution.

And then, we want the American people to connect the dots on their own.

Last week, we took a stab at 10 questions that we ought to be asking El-Sayed. Some of the questions were excellent; others so-so. Either way, we could do better. (Bigger, too.)

And today, we will.

The 15 Questions We Dare the Media to Ask Abdul El-Sayed

1. Do you believe that American Muslims who convert to another faith should be executed — or in any way punished?
2. Should it be illegal to publish a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in the U.S.? Do you believe the staff at Charlie Hebdo bears any guilt or culpability for what happened to them?
3. How does your “obligation” to follow Sharia law impact your view of homosexuality, gay rights, gay adoption, and same-sex marriages?
4. When Sharia law and the Supreme Court are in conflict, whose authority takes precedence in your duty as a U.S. senator?
5. How do you reconcile your earlier support for the "defund the police” movement with Sharia’s call to amputate the right hand of a convicted thief?
6. You’ve said about politics, “Nobody fights the war to just win the war. You fight the war to win the peace.” According to your interpretation of Sharia law, is it permissible for a Muslim to lie to non-Muslims to win a war?
7. Do you believe child marriage is evil, perverted, and ought to be banned in the United States — and any adult man who consummates a “marriage” with a nine-year-old ought to be incarcerated?
8. Should non-Muslims be allowed to testify in court against Muslims?
9. Roughly 4,700 dogs and cats were euthanized during your tenure as Detroit’s health director. How many dogs and cats did you personally adopt? How many dogs and cats do you own today?
10. Do you support Americans’ First Amendment right to say controversial, offensive, and even blasphemous things about ALL religions, including Islam?
11. Could you explain your thought process that led you to go from believing football culture is slavery and embodies toxic masculinity to “loving” it so much that you just challenged a 63-year-old man to a one-on-one game of tackle football?
12. Do you believe Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, and Qatar must allow Christians and Jews to worship freely, openly, and without restrictions, including the right to build churches and synagogues? Will you oppose sending U.S. aid to Muslim nations that don’t?
13. Why did the Muslim Brotherhood — a recognized terrorist group — celebrate your victory in the Democratic primary?
14. Do you believe Hasan Piker is an American patriot?
15. You have two daughters. If they refuse to wear a hijab when they get older — or decide to date non-Muslims — how would you react?

El-Sayed’s supporters will try to argue that this line of questioning is “Islamophobic.” But it’s not. He’s running for federal office — promising to pass laws that everyone in America will be required to follow — and it’s perfectly legitimate to ask a politician about how his personal beliefs will shape his political beliefs.

His views on Sharia law are 100% relevant because he’s vowed a moral “obligation” to follow them!

I don’t really care who, what, or how a politician prays in private. That’s between him and God. But when his religious beliefs dictate his political beliefs, the former is indistinguishable from the latter. It’s the horse that pulls the carriage.

We need to know if Sharia law is El-Sayed’s political roadmap — his ideological north star — and we need to know this before the election, not after.

Theology, morality, and philosophy aside, Christianity and Islam also differ in a pragmatic way: Jesus Christ didn’t govern territory. Neither did the first generations of Christians. As such, the New Testament is a spiritual book, not a blueprint for governance.

The Koran is different. By the time Mohammad died in 632 A.D., he controlled almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. That’s over a million square miles of territory. By some estimates, he controlled the lives of 5.5 million people.

Which is why the Koran is a political book, too.

If a politician swears allegiance to a very specific political philosophy, it’s not “Islamophobic” to ask about the implications. The opposite is true: It’s your obligation as an informed voter.

Furthermore, if El-Sayed refuses to answer these questions, it’s fair to speculate on his motives. Sorry, but that’s how politics is supposed to work.

And our assumption will be that he’s ducking the questions because he doesn’t want us to know the answers.

You know it. I know it. And if we ask the right questions, all the voters in Michigan will know it, too. They’ll connect the dots and reach a conclusion.

So let’s ask.

One Last Thing: 2026 will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the future of our country teeters in the balance.

Never before have the political battle lines been so clearly defined. Blue wave or red wall, one way or another the 2026 midterms will transform our country.

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