Abdul El-Sayed has tapped a former Kamala Harris campaign aide who once claimed Zionists were “controlling” American politics to help lead his transition following his stunning Michigan Senate victory.
Brenda Abdelall, an Egyptian-American attorney who previously served as Harris’ director of Arab-American outreach during her 2024 presidential campaign, has been named transition director for the newly elected senator.
The appointment puts Abdelall back in the political spotlight over controversial remarks she made at an American Muslim Council convention.
The incendiary comments resurfaced during Harris’ presidential campaign and prompted a public defense from the Democratic nominee’s team.
“The Zionists have a strong voice in American politics,” Abdelall told The New York Sun in a 2002 interview while at the convention. “I would say they’re controlling a lot of it.”
Abdelall made the remarks after being asked about a speaker at the event who claimed Zionists were “destroying America.”
She responded that “destroying” was a harsh word, but went on to suggest supporters of Israel wielded significant control over American politics.
The comments first resurfaced in August 2024, shortly after Harris tapped Abdelall to lead her campaign’s outreach to Arab-American voters.
At the time, a Harris campaign spokesperson defended the appointment, pointing to Abdelall’s work at the Department of Homeland Security, where she helped implement the Biden administration’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
“Those 2002 comments do not reflect Brenda’s views or the views of the campaign,” the spokesperson said.
Abdelall also helped lead efforts for the White House’s United We Stand summit, an initiative aimed at combating hate-fueled violence.
Abdelall’s appointment to El-Sayed’s transition team also comes as Democrats continue to grapple with divisions over Israel, particularly among the party’s progressive wing, which has increasingly called for an end to US military support for the Jewish state.
El-Sayed has been among the most outspoken Democrats on the issue, repeatedly criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its military campaign in Gaza and calling for Washington to use its leverage to pressure Israel.
His position has put him at odds with more moderate Democrats, including some of the party’s longtime supporters of Israel, as the conflict has become an increasingly contentious issue within the party.
Stunningly, Abdelall’s previous work in the Biden administration also placed her at the center of efforts to address rising antisemitism in the United States. She served as a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security and helped implement the administration’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, unveiled in May 2023.
The strategy was designed to coordinate federal efforts to combat antisemitism through education, law enforcement and engagement with Jewish communities.
But her 2002 remarks continued to follow her into the 2024 campaign, drawing renewed scrutiny as Harris sought to maintain support among both Jewish voters and Arab-American communities amid the Gaza war.
Abdelall’s new position with El-Sayed now puts her in another prominent role within a Democratic coalition deeply divided over the US relationship with Israel.
As El-Sayed prepares to enter the Senate after defeating Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s 2026 midterm election, it leaves voters wondering where his priorities lie
El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat and former public health director, has made his criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a centerpiece of his political identity. He has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and opposed US military assistance to the Jewish state.
The Michigan Democrat’s political rise has also exposed deep divisions within his own party over its approach to Israel and the war in Gaza.
The Post reached out to El-Sayed and Harris’s campaigns and did not receive an immediate response.
