Nancy Pelosi has given Democrats a late-campaign headache in Michigan, and she did it without endorsing the Republican on the ballot. During a wide-ranging interview with Donny Deutsch, the former House speaker was asked how Jewish voters should reconcile support for the Democratic Party with statements about Israel from prominent Democrats. Deutsch named New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Pelosi answered directly, calling the views “wrong.”
Her comment about El-Sayed was even more pointed: “This new person in Michigan, we’ll see if he gets elected to the Congress,” Pelosi said. That is not the sort of sentence campaigns print on yard signs. Pelosi did not tell voters to support Republican Mike Rogers, but she did publicly separate El-Sayed’s position from the Democratic Party she led. In a close race, a former speaker raising the possibility that the nominee may lose is a remarkably loud warning.
The exchange came about 20 minutes into the full On Brand with Donny Deutsch interview, which runs for more than an hour and covers Pelosi’s career, the Democratic Party and the political climate heading into the midterms. The uncut video shows Deutsch pressing the issue in a sustained face-to-face conversation, rather than Pelosi reacting to a clipped social-media question. He framed the discussion around whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, then asked Pelosi which Democrats concerned him.
Pelosi first rejected the idea that antisemitism defined congressional Democrats, saying the views Deutsch described were not representative of Democrats serving in Congress and that other members would distance themselves from them. When Deutsch identified Mamdani and El-Sayed, Pelosi did not wrap the answer in consultant-approved cushioning. “No, it’s more than concerning,” she said. “It’s wrong. It’s wrong.” Washington has produced plenty of verbal gymnastics, but Pelosi chose repetition instead.
Her treatment of Mamdani was more measured. Pelosi said she hoped he succeeded as mayor while making clear that she disagreed with some of his statements. Her treatment of El-Sayed was noticeably colder. Rather than offer encouragement, she pointed to the unresolved election and left his political future hanging on the coming vote.
That distinction matters because El-Sayed is not merely a fringe primary challenger. He is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, one of the races that could help determine control of the chamber. The dispute centers on his refusal to affirm that Israel should exist specifically as a Jewish state. El-Sayed has argued that he supports equal rights and opposes states privileging one religious identity. His critics say that answer denies the Jewish people’s right to national self-determination. Pelosi plainly landed on the critical side of that divide.
During an appearance with Jewish supporters, El-Sayed said he struggled with the question and argued that defining a state around one religious identity conflicts with liberal values. Pelosi did not spend the podcast parsing every distinction. She heard Deutsch’s description, asked for the names involved and responded that the position was wrong. Sometimes voters get a lengthy policy seminar; this time they got a verdict.
Fox News published a detailed account of the exchange Thursday night, and its transcript confirms that Pelosi used the word “wrong” twice before raising the possibility that El-Sayed might not win the Michigan seat. Fox also reported that representatives for Pelosi, El-Sayed and Mamdani had not immediately supplied additional comment.
With Election Day only days away, Democrats now have to deal with a former party leader publicly distancing herself from a nominee’s position. Pelosi stopped short of endorsing Mike Rogers, but her remarks still give Republicans a useful opening and leave El-Sayed with a difficult question to answer: why did one of the most prominent Democrats in the country refuse to defend his position?
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