WASHINGTON — In a startling development, leaked audio has surfaced of a Democratic candidate from Michigan, who is known for his progressive stance, expressing his reluctance to comment on the death of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The candidate cited the emotional impact on voters as a reason for his caution.
Abdul El-Sayed cautioned his campaign team, stating that “a significant number of people in Dearborn are upset” by Khamenei’s passing. As a strategy, he suggested diverting attention to other topics, specifically referring to a “pedophile president.”
El-Sayed was recorded in a campaign strategy meeting on March 1, explaining his approach to handling inquiries about Khamenei’s death. According to the leaked audio, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, he said, “I’m just gonna go straight to pedophilia, frankly.”
He added, “I’ll just be like, ‘Pedophile president decides that he doesn’t like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war,’” as part of his strategy to steer the conversation away from Khamenei’s death.
Khamenei had been one of the longest-reigning authoritarian leaders globally until his death, which was confirmed by Iran following Israeli airstrikes the previous day.
As a significant figure in Shia Islam, Khamenei held the title of ayatollah, leading the world’s largest population of Shiite Muslims in Iran. Despite lacking traditional religious qualifications, he was appointed as an ayatollah in 1989, ascending swiftly to become the supreme leader.
Dearborn, Michigan, has the largest per capita concentration of Arab-Americans and Muslims of any city in the US. It is also predominantly Shiite Muslim, despite Sunni Islam being the far larger branch of that religion globally.
Despite typically being a Democratic stronghold, President Trump won a plurality there in 2024, amid a revolt against former Vice President Kamala Harris over the Israel-Hamas war.
“I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today,” El-Sayed explained to his team, per the leaked discussion. “So, like, I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don’t think it’s worth even touching that.”
“We have the moral high ground here,” he went on, noting that reporters will “try and bait us into saying, ‘Yeah, but isn’t it justified now that they took [Khamenei] out, right? And I just think, for us, we’ve got to be, like, ‘no.’”
The progressive Senate hopeful also suggested that his campaign could pivot from questions on Khamenei to attack the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Someone on his team was apprehensive about him pivoting to Israel.
“You know what benefits [from the war]? It benefits Israel, who has captured too many of our politicians through AIPAC contributions,” he mused.
El-Sayed, a trained physician, is a Muslim, though it’s not clear whether he’s Sunni or Shiite.
He is generally viewed as the most progressive among the major candidates jockeying for Michigan’s Senate seat, being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Michigan’s Senate seat is widely seen as a possible pickup opportunity for Republicans, who have coalesced around former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who enjoys Trump’s backing.
El-Sayed is facing off against Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D), widely seen as the more moderate contender for the Democratic nod.
McMorrow has a 0.4 percentage point edge over Stevens, and El-Sayed is in third in the Democratic primary, ahead of the Aug. 4 contest, per the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
Both have also been critical of the war in Iran, though Stevens acknowledged that Tehran’s “state sponsorship of terror across the globe has led to chaos and unchecked violence.”
The Post contacted El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.
Campaign lawyers for El-Sayed had reached out to the Washington Free Beacon before publication and revealed that they are mulling legal action against the person behind the recording.
“The campaign is considering its legal options against the individual in question,” the lawyers wrote. “Given these circumstances, the campaign expects that you will take this into account in determining whether to proceed with any reporting on this matter.”
Following Khamenei’s death, Iran’s Assembly of Experts convened and tapped his son, Mojtaba, as the next supreme leader. Mojtaba is known to have been injured in the strike that killed his father.
Mojtaba has not been seen publicly since his ascension. Trump told The Post on Monday he is believed to be “in extraordinarily bad shape.”
