Top line: Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed faced sharp questioning on CNN from host Manu Raju after Fox News Digital and other outlets highlighted resurfaced material — a radio interview clip, a June 2020 post on X and deleted tweets — that critics say show past support for “defund the police.” El-Sayed told Raju he had defined the phrase when he used it and that he meant redirecting some policing resources into community services and public-safety alternatives.
What Abdul El-Sayed said on CNN
During the exchange on CNN’s Inside Politics, El-Sayed pushed back on a narrow reading of his earlier language and offered a fuller explanation of what he intended by “defund the police.” He said in part:
“I believe that we do need to defund the police insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating or killing them on the streets, and in investing more in the means of educating and empowering, engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty…”
El-Sayed also asked rhetorically, “Do you disagree with investing in libraries and public services and social services? You fixate on the word ‘defund,’ but what I’m talking about is war material that we made too much of during the war in Iraq…” He told Raju he supports investing in alternatives that can reduce armed responses to mental-health crises and that his policy approach centers on improving public safety through services and prevention rather than leaving communities less protected.
The materials Fox News cited and how they’re described
Fox News Digital’s report points to three categories of material it says were resurfaced as part of the coverage: a radio interview clip from 2020 in which El-Sayed used the word “defund,” a June 2020 post on X criticizing police spending and several tweets the outlet says were deleted prior to his campaign launch. The Fox article frames those items as the provenance for questioning whether he once supported defunding police departments.
News outlets, including Fox, present the resurfaced interview, the X post and the deleted tweets as sourced materials or claims rather than an exhaustive account of El-Sayed’s views over time. Archived clips and social posts can lose context when pulled from broader conversations, and El-Sayed told CNN he had sought to define what he meant at the time.
For clarity: the characterization of those archived items as evidence of past support for “defund the police” is how the Fox report frames them; other outlets and El-Sayed himself have emphasized his subsequent explanations about redirecting resources and bolstering community-based public-safety tools.
Why this matters for the Michigan Senate race
Debates over policing and slogans like “defund the police” have been politically potent since 2020, and they can become litmus tests in statewide contests. Manu Raju asked on air whether El-Sayed’s past language might become an “electability issue” for his Michigan Senate bid, noting the potential for opponents to amplify the resurfaced materials in fall advertising and debates.
El-Sayed told CNN he did not think the issue would doom his campaign, arguing voters want to feel safe and that his platform addresses those concerns by expanding crisis-response services and reducing reliance on armed interventions where possible. He pointed to policy proposals that emphasize mental-health crisis teams, community investment and retirement and retention incentives for officers as part of a broader public-safety strategy.
Reporting on the resurfaced materials also notes that Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign and did not immediately receive a response. That lack of an immediate comment is flagged by the outlet and may influence early coverage; campaign spokespeople sometimes provide fuller explanations after initial reports appear.
Quick context: what ‘defund’ meant in 2020 and now
The phrase “defund the police” became widely used amid the George Floyd protests in 2020. For many advocates it signaled a push to redirect some police funds into housing, public health, education and other social services intended to prevent crises that often trigger armed responses.
Supporters generally described the aim as changing how public safety is funded and delivered, not necessarily abolishing all policing. Critics, however, interpreted the slogan as a call to dismantle policing institutions — a reading that opponents have used in campaign messaging to raise electability questions for progressive candidates.
El-Sayed has tied his policy arguments to local experience in Wayne County, where he emphasized investments in community services and alternatives to militarized equipment. He says that strategy is meant to strengthen public safety by addressing root causes, not to leave neighborhoods less protected.
Source attribution
This article summarizes reporting by Fox News Digital about the CNN exchange and the resurfaced materials. Read the original Fox News Digital story here: Fox News Digital — Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed fires back at CNN. The Fox report says it contacted El-Sayed’s campaign and did not immediately receive a response.
FAQ
Did Abdul El-Sayed call to defund the police?
In a resurfaced 2020 radio interview cited in coverage, El-Sayed used the phrase “defund the police” and described redirecting funding away from certain policing functions toward community services. On CNN he said he had defined the term to mean disinvesting from militarized policing and investing in services intended to reduce harm and improve public safety.
What interview and posts did Fox News cite?
Fox News Digital cited a resurfaced radio interview clip from 2020, a June 2020 post on X criticizing police spending and several deleted tweets the outlet says were critical of policing. The Fox report presents those items as the basis for scrutiny; other outlets and El-Sayed’s campaign frame his more recent statements as clarifications about intended policy measures.
Could this hurt his Michigan Senate run?
Policing questions have affected other statewide campaigns and could become a focus in Michigan, especially if opponents emphasize the resurfaced clips in advertising or debate lines. How much impact the materials have will depend on campaign responses, media coverage rhythms and voter priorities in the months before the election.
