Democratic Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed recently addressed his past comments about Fourth of July fireworks during an appearance on the radio show “The Breakfast Club.” The host, Charlamagne tha God, questioned El-Sayed on his earlier support for defunding the police and his criticism of fireworks celebrations on Independence Day.
El-Sayed defended his position, stating, “They’re coming at me on fireworks. I’m like, ‘All right, first, if your whole conception of America is that it’s fireworks, I’m so sorry. You don’t have a complete conception of America. But even then, right, like what is it?'”
He elaborated, “I said, ‘Well, every time we do a fireworks show, it destroys the air quality and people have asthma exacerbations and heart attacks the next day.’ That’s all I was saying. You know what I mean? I’m not saying we shouldn’t have fireworks. I’m just saying maybe like there are other ways to show your love.”
His comments followed a CNN report that revealed El-Sayed had deleted or hidden about 100 YouTube videos before starting his Senate campaign. Among these was a plea for Americans to consider alternative ways to celebrate the Fourth of July, citing potential negative impacts like poor air quality and risks to children and pets.
The removed content allegedly featured four reasons “why fireworks suck” and had a chapter entitled “Fireworks just aren’t worth it: hear us out.”
During a recent appearance on “Hannity,” Republican nominee Mike Rogers criticized El-Sayed for his past remarks and actions. Rogers stated, “This guy spent hours hating on what most Michiganders would enjoy in their pastimes, and he should be held to account for that. These are views that he held, that he was pretty strong about, but he knew that he had to delete them all… If people really knew who he was, they wouldn’t vote for him.”
Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to both El-Sayed and Rogers for comments. However, no immediate response was received.