August 25, 2026

"In the most eye-popping moment of the exchange, Mr. Watters asked if Dr. El-Sayed believed it was OK 'for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off'..."

"... referring to transition surgeries for minors. Dr. El-Sayed responded by asking if Mr. Watters was circumcised. 'Uh, yeah, but that’s a personal question, doctor,' Mr. Watters responded, laughing, before contending that 'circumcision’s different than castration.' Dr. El-Sayed said that he believed the government should not tell Americans what health care procedures they could undergo, but he did not directly say whether he approved of transition surgeries. The interview showed the strategy Dr. El-Sayed is adopting as Mr. Rogers seeks to paint him as a radical leftist who is out of touch with Michigan voters. The Democratic nominee’s approach is to cast 'culture-war' issues as a distraction from the everyday problems Americans face, like rising costs and worries about health care...."

From "El-Sayed Joins Fox News for Some Light Verbal Combat and a Pitch to Republicans/In a smiling yet tense interview, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, argued that his Republican critics were using culture-war issues to distract from Americans’ economic concerns" (NYT gift link).

"Mr. Rogers" = Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate.

22 comments:

CJinPA said...

Clash of the intellectual titans.

Birches said...

Oh! This is actually a way to demoralize female voters. The press should start asking El Sayed about female circumcision. After all that's something he says the government should have no say in.

His support will evaporate.

Original Mike said...

"'circumcision’s different than castration.'"

Of course it is. El-Sayed's analogy is absurd. And the issue isn't the government telling Americans what health care procedures they can undergo, it's what procedures can be performed *on children*.

"but he did not directly say whether he approved of transition surgeries."

Shear disingenuousness. Are NYT readers taken in by this?

Kevin said...

"Mr. Rogers" = Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate.

I prefer Mr. Moose over both candidates.

Dave Begley said...

In Nebraska, sex change operations for minors was a big issue two years back. That's when the whole world saw the video of Sen. M. Cavanaugh chanting on the floor of the Unicameral, "We love trans people. We need trans people."

The circumcision analogy was constantly used by the Left here in NE. It is completely moronic. There's a major, major difference between removing a tiny bit of skin from a baby and completely removing a penis.

This analogy just shows how stupid and illogical the Left is.

The shocker to me is that this guy was a Rhodes Scholar and a medical doctor. He was really pathetic. I guess they don't make Rhodes Scholars like they used to. Bill Clinton was a much better debater.

Aggie said...

What a bunch of slow-pitch, softball hogwash. Fox plays to conservative audiences because there are few other choices, but they do not broadcast conservative journalism. A real interviewer would have eaten him for lunch, and it wouldn't have been halal.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Simulants.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I’ve heard Islamic candidates say similar things. But I’ve also heard Islamic candidates use a comparison of clitorectomy to circumcision, which is not so ridiculous as comparing religious rituals to child mutilation/abuse of gender-destroying care. El-Sayed is not ready for primetime and unfortunately that is what Watter’s show is called and when it airs. We DVRed it so we could watch the train wreck at our leisure.

Ironically, Abdul here notwithstanding, Jews and Muslims have both supported the religious freedom of America so far. The current DSA candidates don’t share that historical respect for the Bill of Rights. El-Sayed wants Sharia to have supremacy over the Constitution.

Joe Bar said...

"In a smiling yet tense interview, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, argued that his Republican critics were using culture-war issues to distract from Americans’ economic concerns."

A lot of these "economic concerns" would go away with Mass Deportations.

RideSpaceMountain said...

@Birches, +1. Always push back on muslims, the default is that their culture is infinitely shittier. Because it is.

mindnumbrobot said...

"The Democratic nominee’s approach is to cast 'culture-war' issues as a distraction from the everyday problems Americans face..."

You know, there are a lot of issues you deal with in the Senate other than what you want to talk about. It's such a lame strategy, but we know the media will go right along with it, pretending the guy isn't who everyone knows he is. Pathetic.

Yancey Ward said...

Circumcision should probably be illegal, too, for boys under the age of 18. At the very least, below an age from which they can't give a verbal assent to the procedure.

bagoh20 said...

I find these DSA candidates to be entirely transparent even when lying and obfuscating. They are bringing nothing to the table for most Americans and are obviously just after money and advantage for themselves and their extensive family and friends here and abroad. They want to make little third-world dictatorships all over the country, rife with fraud and theft. Among themselves, I'm sure they talk of communist rhetoric and lies being the only proven quick and easy path to power, which seems valid in the last 100 years or so. It never works out for the people, but it gets you in power pretty reliably. There are always lots of envious people with grudges willing to vote for impossible promises.

Gusty Winds said...

"Dr. El-Sayed responded by asking if Mr. Watters was circumcised."

Wow. That's some unashamed Jew hatred right there. The two procedures, although performed in the same region, are not in the same ballpark. This guy is scum.

But nothing surprises me with liberals and democrats anymore. Look at all the liberal feminists fanatically supporting Lindsey Clancy. It's basically support for abortion up to 5-years-old, using postpartum depression as an excuse.

Makes El-Sayed's Jew hatred seem tame.

William said...

I saw the interview. I was hoping for a Perry Mason moment where Abdul looked weak and evasive or fiery and opinionated.. No such luck. He looked personable and tolerant. He's got some skills as a politician. Maybe Rogers will have better luck than Waters. Waters definitely did not have a gotcha moment........Maybe a friendlier approach would work. Draw him out by asking how Sharia Law could benefit the American legal system. Perhaps it would be a good idea to limit the testimony of those female Supreme Court Justices. I'm sure Abdul has some useful suggestions along thiose lines.

bagoh20 said...

Circumcision seems like an unnecessary thing, but I'm glad it was done to me when it was. Perhaps animals that wear clothing have actually made foreskins unnecessary. I don't miss mine.

Dr Weevil said...

What Jesse Waters should have said when asked if he was circumcised:

"Does your wife know that you're . . . interested . . . in other men's penises?" (Or maybe "dicks" or "organs" would be better rhetorically.)

He would obviously reply: "You were just talking about little boys' penises!"

To which the obvious answer would be: "We were talking about hypothetical generic cases and their legal implications. This is NOT the same thing. Most straight men, and their wives, feel uncomfortable when other men show an interest in their penises. So again, what does your wife think about this? Maybe ask her when you get home. If she hasn't already changed the locks."

Given Muslim attitudes to homosexuality, this could conceivably hurt Al-Sayed with some of his most solid supporters.

Gusty Winds said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RideSpaceMountain said...

"Given Muslim attitudes to homosexuality"

They'll publicly put you to death, but privately they're flaming queers. Don't ask them not to throw the first stone, they're likely to bacha-your-bazi before they bury you in boulders.

MadTownGuy said...

"Dr. El-Sayed said that he believed the government should not tell Americans what health care procedures they could undergo..."

When El-Sayed brought up circumcision, Rogers should have countered with clitoridectomy. El-Sayed's government would make it a requirement.

boatbuilder said...

I recall Jordan Peterson joking in one of his lectures about what Abraham's male family members must have thought when Abraham told them that God decreed they be circumcised, along the lines of "now he's really gone around the bend."
Brave AI tells me that never happened. But it did and it was funny as part of a serious discussion.

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