Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) declined to say whether Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is qualified to serve, telling Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power” on Tuesday that El-Sayed “wouldn’t be my first choice” and that he hasn’t closely examined the candidate’s record.
Asked by co-host Kailey Leinz whether El-Sayed is qualified for the Michigan seat given his refusal to denounce commentator Hasan Piker and remarks Piker has made, Sherman said he hasn’t compared the candidates in that race.
“I certainly haven’t sat down and compared. My first choice wouldn’t be Mike Rogers or Abdul. It would be someone else. In fact, I would have loved to see my colleague be nominated there,” Sherman said.
Sherman noted that he does not have a vote in Michigan and that no one from the state has sought his opinion on the race. “There are hundreds of candidates running for Congress all over the country. I tend to support the Democrat, but — and I analyze a lot of House races. I don’t know,” he said.
Leinz pressed further, saying the question was less about political qualifications and more about “moral and ethical qualifications,” framing the Piker controversy as symptomatic of a broader internal struggle within the Democratic Party.
Sherman drew a sharp line on Piker himself, saying he would not support him for any office. “Hasan Piker isn’t qualified to run for dogcatcher, nor would I support him for that, no matter which ticket he was on,” Sherman said.
But he stopped short of extending that judgment to El-Sayed, arguing that sorting out the details of what Senate candidates knew and said about Piker, and when, is more than he can reasonably do for a race outside his own state.
“Whether, and the level of involvement and parsing the individual words and on which day did which Senate candidate say what and what did they know about what we now know about Hasan Piker, that’s a lot of work for somebody who doesn’t have a vote in Michigan,” Sherman said.
Sherman said his attention has been on California’s own ballot, which he described as having “dozens of things on it.” He added that if the Michigan race were happening in his home state, he would scrutinize both candidates — particularly Piker’s repeated statements and how closely tied he is to any given Senate candidate.
El-Sayed is running for the Michigan Senate seat; Mike Rogers is also mentioned as a candidate in the race, according to Sherman’s remarks.
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