El-Sayed's 2022 Essay Called Biden's Zawahiri Strike a Political Move
The Michigan Senate candidate argued in a resurfaced piece that the administration used the killing of the al-Qaeda leader to boost approval ratings before the midterms.
By Eric Coleman ·
Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, faced renewed scrutiny after a 2022 essay resurfaced. In the writing, he accused then-President Joe Biden of using the death of a key architect of the September 11 attacks to improve his domestic political standing.
The drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was announced by Biden on August 1, 2022. During that announcement, the president stated that al-Zawahiri was deeply involved in planning the attacks that killed 2,977 people on American soil. Intelligence officials have long maintained that the al-Qaeda leader helped plan the 9/11 strikes and other deadly assaults on Americans abroad.
El-Sayed, writing for The New Republic, contended that the operation was timed to lift Biden's approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections. He described the move as troubling, noting that another American president was using 'War on Terror' themes to rescue a lagging term. The essay further claimed the strike provided the administration with a 'fig leaf,' suggesting that direct action against terrorist targets remained possible even in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
In the same piece, El-Sayed argued that if Biden intended to project strength in the Middle East, he should have confronted autocratic leaders in the region with whom the United States has traditionally aligned. He did not defend al-Zawahiri, calling him a 'craven terrorist' who died with the blood of innocent civilians on his hands.
This criticism follows a pattern in El-Sayed's public commentary on counterterrorism operations. In 2020, he warned against the drone strike that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, stating that one should not kick a rabid dog. Earlier, he labeled the killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen an extrajudicial assassination. He has also compared Donald Trump to Osama bin Laden, suggesting both figures inspired terrorism and that Trump should be held to account similarly to how bin Laden was treated after his death in May 2011.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Source: Fox News
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