Jon Lovett: Michigan Jews Have a “Moral Obligation” to Support El-Sayed

Jon Lovett, co-host of the podcast Pod Save America and a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, said this week that Jewish voters in Michigan have a “moral obligation” to support Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, despite El-Sayed’s record of sharp criticism of Israel.

“I just want to be very clear: Jews in Michigan have a moral obligation to support Abdul,” Lovett said on Tuesday’s episode. “They should do it to protect themselves from antisemitism and rising hatred in America.”

Lovett made the remarks in response to President Donald Trump, who said at a rally for Republican nominee Mike Rogers that Jewish voters should be ashamed to support El-Sayed.

Lovett acknowledged that antisemitism on the left is real, but argued it is far less dangerous than hatred on the right. He also appeared to accept that El-Sayed may oppose Israel in the Senate. “Maybe Abdul is going to be a reliable vote against Israel. Fine, we can handle that,” he said.

Jesse Arm, a vice president at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital that Lovett is in no position to lecture Jews about their moral obligations, and criticized El-Sayed over his response to the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

El-Sayed’s record

On March 12, a man drove a truck into Temple Israel while the synagogue’s school was in session, before dying by suicide after an exchange of fire with security guards. The FBI later described the attack as a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism against the Jewish community.

El-Sayed initially said he was “horrified and heartbroken,” but later remarked that “hurt people hurt people” and linked the attack to a cycle of violence involving Israel’s actions in Lebanon. The attacker had lost two brothers and a niece and nephew in an Israeli strike in Lebanon the week before.

In August, he told the Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus that he had made a mistake, and that his initial statement condemning the attack “should have been it, full stop.”

El-Sayed has also faced scrutiny over 2012 social media posts by his half-sister, who wrote that their mother had been active in the Muslim Brotherhood as a college student in Egypt in the early 1970s. El-Sayed has denied any family ties to the group, called the claims hearsay, and said he disavows the Brotherhood.

He has also said Israel is “not an ally” and “not actually our friend,” and has repeated the position since.

More than 200 rabbis have signed a letter urging El-Sayed to promote Jewish inclusion in the Democratic Party.

A tight race

El-Sayed leads Rogers 51.4% to 45.1% among likely voters, according to a Glengariff Group poll conducted for WDIV and The Detroit News on October 19 to 22, a lead within the poll’s 4-point margin of error. The race is considered a key contest for control of the Senate in next week’s midterm elections.