Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed used the state Democratic Party's convention to apologise to Jewish Democrats over comments he made after a March attack on a suburban Detroit synagogue, while refusing to distance himself from a prominent left-wing supporter accused of inflammatory rhetoric. El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim US senator if elected, faces Republican Mike Rogers in a closely watched race that Democrats need to win to retake the Senate; his handling of the episode matters because it touches on party unity following a bruising primary and on wider tensions between progressives and Jewish Democratic voters over Israel policy.

El-Sayed had said "hurt people, hurt people" after a Hezbollah-inspired gunman attacked a synagogue, remarks that drew criticism from figures including Michigan Secretary of State Dana Nessel, who skipped the convention over antisemitism concerns. Speaking to Fox News Digital and the state party's Jewish Caucus in Lansing, El-Sayed said the comments "might have been misconstrued" and apologised for any hurt caused, though he insisted he was condemning the attack, not justifying it. He declined, however, to renounce streamer Hasan Piker, a vocal backer of his campaign, and reiterated his opposition to unconditional US military aid to Israel while stopping short of affirming Israel's right to exist. Rogers' campaign dismissed the apology as insincere, and some Jewish leaders separately issued an open letter urging support for Rogers.