El-Sayed: Israel Dragged Us Into War; "Has That Made Us Any Safer? Has That Improved Our Lives?"
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/10/15/el-sayed_israel_dragged_us_into_war_has_that_made_us_any_safer_has_that_improved_our_lives.html

In a new interview in battleground Michigan, NBC News' Tom Llamas interviews Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about whether Israel or Iran poses the bigger threat in the U.S. El Sayed declined to answer the question during a debate earlier in October.

TOM LLAMAS: You were asked this question in the debate, but I do want to get an answer. You were asked, what is a bigger threat to the U.S., Israel or Iran? You said it was a ridiculous hypothetical.

[CROSSTALK]

ABDUL EL-SAYED: Why are we in a war in Iran?

LLAMAS: Do you think that Israel is a bigger threat than Iran to the United States?

EL-SAYED: Why are we at war with Iran right now?

LLAMAS: The president says they were building a nuclear weapon.

EL-SAYED: Well, it's also, who was the one foreign operative, somebody who works for a foreign government, who was invited to the Situation Room to pitch the case? Do you know?

LLAMAS: You're talking about Israel? It was the prime minister of Israel.

EL-SAYED: So if your ally, ostensibly, is getting you into a war, does that make you safer?

LLAMAS: So you do think Israel is as big of a threat?

[CROSSTALK]

LLAMAS: I just want to nail you down on this. Do you think they are equally a threat to the U.S.?

EL-SAYED: When we look at our situation in the world because of what Israel is pushing us into. We should never have fought a war with Iran. I agree that Iran is a dangerous threat. That's not a question. But I also think that when you ostensibly have an ally that's pushing you into war with the country that is threatening you, that does not make you any safer.

LLAMAS: So you think they're as dangerous? I just want to understand you.

EL-SAYED: Look at this war. I'm telling you exactly what I think. You just don't seem to think that I'm telling you that.

LLAMAS: No, I get it. Let me just explain my point.

EL-SAYED: We are in a war we should not be fighting. Israel had very clear war aims. They wanted the annexation of southern Lebanon. They wanted to continue to pursue what is a bigger boundary around themselves. Has that made us any safer? Has that improved our lives?

We're paying $5 gas. We're paying more for groceries because of a war we should not be fighting at the behest of whom? The government of Israel. So do you want to tell me that that's somehow good for us? I just don't think that's the case. So the question about Iran is not a question. Yes. They have been a dangerous threat. Now, the question to me is --

LLAMAS: You think they're both a threat?

EL-SAYED: Yes. Look, last month alone, we paid $2.8 billion for 2,000 pound bombs for a foreign government. Do you think that makes us safer? Is that good for us? What could we do with $2.8 billion? I'd rather spend it on our schools here. I'd rather spend it on our infrastructure here.

To tell me that somehow that is what you do with an ally, it just seems to me to be insane, especially when they're dragging you into wars you have no business fighting, that you end up paying more for in gas and groceries.