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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed are “wrong” about Israel, saying their views don’t speak for Democrats in Congress just days before the midterm elections.
Getting into it: Pelosi made the comments on Donny Deutsch’s “On Brand” podcast after Deutsch, who is Jewish, said refusing to accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is antisemitic and named Mamdani and El-Sayed as examples. Pelosi, 86 and wrapping up 40 years in Washington, said she hopes Mamdani succeeds as mayor but disagrees with some of what he’s said, and noted of El-Sayed, “we’ll see if he gets elected.”
She also said she doesn’t know of anyone on the Democratic side engaged in antisemitism, though some people say things they shouldn’t that can come across that way. Her spokesman, Nicholas Martin, said Friday that Pelosi still urges voters to back El-Sayed and that she’s united with him on lowering costs, protecting health care and defending democracy. Mamdani and El-Sayed’s teams didn’t respond.
Some rabbis and Jewish groups have criticized Mamdani and El-Sayed, both Muslim progressives, over their stances on Israel, while the two say they’re targeting the Israeli government, not Jewish people. Mamdani told ABC News in June that he supports Israel as a state with equal rights but not one that favors one religion over another.
El-Sayed, who is running against Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open Senate seat, has said he “struggled” with whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, has called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide and opposes continued US military aid to Israel.
This all comes as Israel continues to split Democrats heading into their fight to take back Congress, with a recent Pew Research poll finding that 60% of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Israel.
