Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was confronted about his past instances of appearing to support ‘defunding the police’ efforts on CNN’s ‘Inside Politics’ Sunday.
Defunding the Police
In a resurfaced radio interview cited by CNN, El-Sayed explicitly called for defunding the police in the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd riots. ‘I believe that we do need to defund the police insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating or killing them on the streets,’ El-Sayed said.
CNN host Manu Raju asked El-Sayed about his comments in the clip despite previously claiming to have never supported defunding the police. El-Sayed responded by defining what he meant by ‘defunding the police,’ saying it’s about investing in libraries, public services, and social services instead of ‘war material’ for police.
El-Sayed also mentioned his work with law enforcement in Wayne County and his support for investing in retention and retirement for law enforcement. He emphasized the need to rethink how social problems are addressed, suggesting that sending a trained mental health professional instead of a police officer could be a more effective approach.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
