Michigan Senate hopeful Dr. Abdul El-Sayed formally apologized to Jewish Democrats for weaving a jab at Israel in his response to an attack on a Michigan synagogue in March.
Page A6From§Eachthe early evening edition — 30 August 2026
El-Sayed apologizes for comments on synagogue attack; Clyburn immediately backs him, citing second chances.
As it ran on the front
Watch how fast forgiveness moves when it's useful. El-Sayed says something ugly after a synagogue attack in Michigan — laments the death of a terrorist's family, in his own words, in response to that attack — and it takes him a while to get to sorry. But once the apology lands, Jim Clyburn is right there, same news cycle, with the absolution: all of us deserve second chances.
Maybe that's even true. People say things in the heat of a moment they'd take back on a calmer day, and a second chance isn't a scandal by itself. What's worth clocking is the speed and the source. This isn't a pastor or a rabbi extending grace on their own time. It's a sitting member of House Democratic leadership, on the record, endorsing the apology practically before the ink was dry on the story about what was being apologized for.…
…(cont) That's not forgiveness, that's triage. A party figures out fast which controversies get the 'he's human, let it go' treatment and which ones get left to twist for a news cycle, and the difference usually isn't the size of the offense. It's who's still useful to the coalition next November. El-Sayed apologizes, Clyburn backs him within what looks like hours, and the machine moves on to the next thing, having demonstrated — quietly, without ever saying so out loud — exactly whose mistakes get fast-tracked back to good standing.
The stakes here aren't about one apology. It's about the fact that second chances isn't a value the party applies evenly; it's a lever somebody pulls when they've decided they still need you. Everybody else gets the ledger. He got the handshake.
Nobody's asking for El-Sayed to be run out of public life over a bad sentence in a bad week. But a second chance handed out this fast, this publicly, by a man who sits a few rungs from the Speaker's chair, isn't grace. It's a receipt. Keep it.
“Nice that Clyburn's got second chances lying around; wonder who else on that list is still waiting on one. Forgiveness moves fast when the guy apologizing is still useful come November.”
The receipts
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Sunday said he supports Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) after he apologized for comments he made following an attack on a Detroit-area synagogue earlier this year, with the South Carolina House…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.