‘No, Sir!’ MS NOW Focus Group of Black Voters Says They’re Iffy on El-Sayed

Several Black voters in Michigan have a message for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D): Just because we’re Democrats doesn’t mean you automatically have our vote.

The group of Black Michiganders told MS NOW on Tuesday morning they are iffy on El-Sayed, even though he has the D next to his name that they normally look for.

“I think he’s taking advantage [of] we as Black people are Democratic, and he think we gonna vote for him anyway,” one middle-aged woman vented. “And I’m like, ‘No sir, I’m gonna put uncommitted down on that little circle and move on.’ If you’re going to Congress to represent me, I need you to talk about what’s going on in this community.”

The gentleman to her left shrugged and agreed as the woman went off, echoing that El-Sayed assumes they’re “gonna vote for him anyway.”

And another woman made a similar gripe a moment before, saying there have been “missed opportunities” for El-Sayed to “help us understand him.”

The two women talked about their reservations when it comes to El-Sayed during an MS NOW segment dubbed “The Voter Files,” where host Elise Jordan speaks to two focus groups about the Michigan Senate race. She explained the groups were broken into two distinct sets, one with Black voters from Wayne County and another with Jewish Democrats from Oakland County.

Both groups felt “conflicted” about voting for El-Sayed, Jordan reported; the Oakland County voters raised concerns about El-Sayed’s views on Israel, after the progressive candidate said the country is just as “evil” as Hamas. And many of the Black voters wanted to know more about El-Sayed as a man and as a candidate before backing him. Still, both groups did not sound like they were running to vote for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

“I have a transgender daughter who is 30, and I’m Jewish, and Israel is incredibly important to me,” one older gentleman from Oakland County said. “But, a vote for Mike Rogers is a vote for my kid being oppressed.”

“Correct,” a co-panelist affirmed.

MS NOW held the focus groups as most polls tracked by The New York Times show El-Sayed has an edge on Rogers heading into November.

Jordan wrapped up the segment by saying the focus group of Black voters, despite their reservations, seemed more likely to vote for El-Sayed than the Jewish Democrats.

“I think they will come along,” Jordan said. “I think that President Obama coming and campaigning with Abdul El-Sayed is going to be huge. And I do think at the end of the day, that group of voters is still persuadable.”

Watch above.

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