Dem Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed recounts smashing vodka bottle after beard criticism

Dem Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed recounts smashing vodka bottle after beard criticism

The progressive said on a podcast a store clerk told him his beard was 'too short'

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Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed takes heat for Khamenei comments, Hasan Piker event

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed addresses leaked audio where he suggested not commenting on the death of Iran's former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, due to local Dearborn sentiment.

In a recent podcast appearance, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed admitted to destroying property in a liquor store in Detroit over remarks about the length of his beard, a sign of religious observance among Muslim communities.

"He says, ‘Are you Muslim?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Well, your beard is too short.’ I said, ‘Ok you’re gonna judge me? Ok, give me a second, I forgot something,’" El-Sayed said while on left-leaning YouTube show "Intellectually Petty."

"So, I walk back, I get a fifth of vodka, and put it on the counter. He’s like, ‘Hey, you can’t buy that,’ and I was like, ‘You’re right, and you can’t sell it.’ So, I smashed it on the ground and walked out."

The account is emerging as a new line of attack for some Republicans in the closely watched Senate race.

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Abdul El-Sayed, U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, speaks at an event. (Monica Morgan/Getty Images)

Hunter Lovell, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), believes it displays a willingness to become aggressive over matters of faith.

"Abdul El-Sayed thinks he gets a free hall pass by using his religion as a way to promote violent extremism," Lovell said. "In reality, Michigan voters see a deeply disturbed man with anger management issues who belongs nowhere near the United States Senate."

El-Sayed’s campaign, when asked about Lovell's comments, did not address the incident in the liquor store.

"Yes — Abdul is angry on behalf of the people. Unlike Trump who seems more focused on drapes in a ballroom, Abdul gets mad when everyday people get exploited," Roxie Richner, a spokesperson for the campaign, told Fox News Digital.

El-Sayed finds himself in a heated three-way Democratic primary to replace outgoing Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

Voters will soon have to pick between him, fellow progressive Mallory McMorrow, a state legislator, and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a more establishment-leaning candidate.

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Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for U.S. Senate, campaigns at the Michigan Democratic Nominating Convention. McMorrow is currently a member of the Michigan Senate. (Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

El-Sayed has positioned himself as the most leftward-leaning of the three, espousing positions such as "Medicare for all," free college education and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Notably, El-Sayed has attracted criticism for his opposition to the current U.S. partnership with Israel, citing humanitarian concerns during the war in Gaza.

He’s also drawn scrutiny for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a political commentator and media personality who has described Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, as the "lesser of two evils," in its war with Israel and said that the U.S. "deserved 9/11."

El-Sayed himself has clearly said he condemns all forms of religious violence.

In the wake of an attack on a synagogue in Temple Israel Michigan earlier in 2026, El-Sayed called it an act of "terrorism."

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT DEFENDS APPEARING WITH HASAN PIKER, DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM PODCASTER'S CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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"He was an Arab American and a Muslim. I condemn what he did. There is never a justification for attacking innocent people or houses of worship. Never," El-Sayed said in a press release.

The Michigan Senate primary will be held Aug. 4.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

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