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A new report by Just the News has put a spotlight on Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed’s spring 2020 playbook. Back then he urged strict COVID lockdowns, scolded people for going to beaches and gyms, and deleted many of the tweets urging everyone to stay home. A few weeks later he defended massive, unmasked street protests as justified because “racism is a public health crisis.” That pivot deserves more than a shrug — it deserves a hard look from Michigan voters.
From lockdown hawk to protest defender
The timeline is simple and a little awkward for anyone who values consistency. In March 2020, Abdul El‑Sayed used his public‑health creds to call for stay‑at‑home orders, to shame beachgoers, and to praise cancelled mosque services. He even wrote about lockdowns in national outlets and repeated the mantra that “public health is politics.” Fast forward to late May and June, and he was writing that protesters shouldn’t be shamed and that fighting racism is a public‑health mission. The Newsyop‑ed argument and the archived, deleted tweets are easy to find — unless you prefer to pretend the tweets never existed.
Public health — science or scorekeeping?
This is not just about one man changing his mind. It’s about a larger pattern that cropped up in 2020: when protests fit a political narrative, public‑health rules suddenly softened. An open letter from thousands of public‑health professionals backed this view and declared structural racism a public‑health emergency. Fine — you can argue the science. But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand lockdowns to police everyday people and then wave off the same infection risks when political theater suits your side. That looks less like science and more like scorekeeping.
Why Michigan voters should care
El‑Sayed is a top contender in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s Senate seat, facing U.S. Representative Haley Stevens and Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow. He’s picked up endorsements and attention, but he’s also had campaign headaches — from deleted posts to risky alliances and awkward moments on the trail. Voters should ask whether a candidate who shifts public‑health rules depending on the politics of the moment is the steady, transparent leader they want in the U.S. Senate. Consistency matters when people’s lives and liberties are at stake.
Michigan deserves straight answers, not selective science or political theater. If Abdul El‑Sayed wants to be the next senator, he should explain why his public‑health stance changed and how voters can trust his judgment the next time crisis meets politics. Otherwise, voters should assume what the record suggests: public health was a slogan, not a standard.
