‘Not even understandable’ – Trump stunned by Jewish support for El-Sayed

President Trump expresses frustration over Jewish support for anti-Israel Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump expressed frustration Thursday over the continued support Jewish Americans give to Democratic candidates, questioning why a majority of Michigan’s Jewish voters backed outspoken Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed in this months US Senate election.

Speaking during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on the Salem News Channel, Trump pointed to the results of the November 3 election, in which El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.

“If you look at El-Sayed in Michigan, he got more votes than the Republican candidate got by quite a bit from Jewish people,” Trump said.

“It’s not even understandable. It’s a tough group to get,” he added.

The president made the remarks after Hewitt asked whether he remained committed to Israel amid concerns about possible changes in the administration’s Middle East policies.

Trump reaffirmed his support for Israel and claimed that his popularity among Israelis remained extraordinarily high.

“In Israel, I’m at 99%. Literally, I’m at 99,” he said, adding jokingly that he could eventually move to Israel and become prime minister.

The president’s comments followed the release of polling indicating that El-Sayed secured a narrow majority of Michigan’s Jewish vote despite considerable opposition to his positions on Israel.

A survey of 883 Jewish voters conducted by Mercury Public Affairs for The Jewish Majority found that 50% supported El-Sayed, compared with 43% who backed Rogers. Another 4% left the Senate race blank, while 3% voted for other candidates.

However, the survey also revealed that El-Sayed performed considerably worse among Jewish voters than other Democratic candidates.

In Michigan’s gubernatorial election, Democrat Jocelyn Benson received 69% of the Jewish vote, outperforming El-Sayed by 19 percentage points.

Among Jewish voters in Oakland County, home to a substantial Jewish population in the Detroit suburbs, Rogers defeated El-Sayed by 52% to 39%.

The survey found that 37% of Jewish respondents who recalled voting for Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin in 2024 did not support El-Sayed this year.

Among Jewish Democrats who refused to vote for El-Sayed, 98% said they would likely have supported a different Democratic nominee.

The findings suggested that while many Jewish voters remained loyal to the Democratic Party, substantial numbers were uncomfortable with El-Sayed’s positions on Israel and his handling of antisemitism.

El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, opposed continued American military assistance to the Jewish state and drawn criticism for his association with anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker.

He also faced criticism for comments following a terrorist attack on Temple Israel, a synagogue in suburban Detroit, when he remarked that “hurt people hurt people.” El-Sayed subsequently apologized for those comments.

Trump had repeatedly attacked El-Sayed during the campaign, accusing him of hostility toward Jews and Israel.

At an October 25 campaign rally, the president declared that Jewish Americans who supported the Democrat “should be ashamed of themselves.”

“You should never speak to them again,” Trump added.

Despite the controversy, El-Sayed defeated Rogers by approximately seven percentage points in the statewide election, helping Democrats secure control of the Senate.

The Jewish Majority’s executive director, Jonathan Schulman, described the results as a warning to Democratic leaders that Jewish voters should not be taken for granted.

Schulman also cautioned Republicans against interpreting opposition to a particular Democratic candidate as evidence of a permanent political realignment.

The poll, conducted between October 25 and November 10, had a reported margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.