The Democrats sure are nominating some winners for Congress, and the scary part is that they'll probably all win their races, coming from deep-blue districts where rich white college kids are excited to vote for Democratic Socialists. New York's Darializa Avila Chevalier nuked her old social media posts, and so did Michigan Democrat front-runner Abdul El-Sayed. He told CNN's Kasie Hunt last week that he deleted old tweets supporting the Defund the Police movement because they were taken “out of context,” calling them “clickbait in D.C.”
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck report that interviews from 2020, at the height of the Defund the Police movement, put those comments back into context.
But interviews from 2020 show El-Sayed repeatedly endorsed defunding the police, according to a CNN KFile review of his media appearances. “We do need to defund the police,” El-Sayed said in a 2020 radio interview while specifically discussing how the slogan could undermine criminal justice reform efforts.
El-Sayed’s interviews from 2020 and 2021 show him embracing the “defund the police” movement — not just uttering the phrase but supporting the key principle of reinvesting funds from the police into other public-sector spaces such as mental health and anti-poverty efforts.
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“I believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets,” he added. “And in investing more in the means of educating and empowering, engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty, that we’ve allowed systematic racism to allow to fester in too many communities.”
So, he didn't really want to defund the police; he just wanted to redirect funds going toward the police department into mental health and anti-poverty efforts. He didn't say he wanted to abolish the police, at least.
Can you lose your medical license for lying?
— Gavin Newsom or Bust! (@RoyDelfino) July 7, 2026
Just a hypothetical since Dr. El-Sayed doesn't have one. But I'm curious.
@AbdulElSayed you can’t run from your own words. Thinking you can proves you’re completely ignorant.
— CB in Texas (@CB3125211746723) July 7, 2026
It never fails. He could have just said his views have evolved but instead DSA candidates just lie.
— Jean (@queens_parents) July 7, 2026
That was 2020. This is 2026. Have you grown or changed your feelings on anything in 6 years?
— Lulu (@LuluSez1) July 7, 2026
He didn't say he'd changed his feelings; he said he deleted his old tweets calling to defund the police were taken “out of context."
— PeaceThroughStrength (@LuvFreedom123) July 7, 2026
Commies lie. It's what they do best. Stop running and voting for lying commies.
— Ellie 🇺🇸 (@DrivingMissJane) July 7, 2026
So he's lied about his positions, he lied about being a licensed pediatrician, and he won't release his financials. Sounds like another winner from Bernie 🙄
— Holly (@redredberries) July 7, 2026
Defunding the police was the mainstream Democratic position in 2020.
— PunishedNixon🚁🇺🇸 (@NixonPunished) July 7, 2026
It’s weird when you believe what they actually say
— Drew H (@DrewH10676) July 7, 2026
Can we skip ahead to the part where the DSA goons blame Israel for this? That’s usually the most entertaining.
— Jose Kahnuicy (@JoseKahnuicy) July 7, 2026
There are a whole lot of Democrats in the replies asking, "Who cares?" Just as with Graham Platner's Nazi tattoo. Who cares? Vote blue no matter who.
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Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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