THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- David Axelrod criticized Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s approach to Republican attacks during Monday’s CNN panel.
- Former Biden White House deputy press secretary Chris Meagher said El-Sayed projects a need to be right and described the impression as confidence or cockiness.
- Both urged him to pivot toward affordability and voters’ concerns in his race against Republican Mike Rogers.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
Abdul El-Sayed got some uncomfortable campaign advice Monday, and this time the critics weren’t Republicans.
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod and former Biden White House deputy press secretary Chris Meagher used CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt to warn the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee that his approach to controversy was becoming a problem.
Axelrod said El-Sayed’s posture could come across as “I am going to teach you, I am smarter than you”—and called that “not an appealing quality.”
When the man who helped sell Barack Obama tells you to turn down the lecture, somebody should probably check the volume.
Axelrod wasn’t speaking as a stranger. He said he knows El-Sayed well and noted his connection to the University of Chicago institute where El-Sayed had been a fellow.
His advice was to answer the attacks, then shift the conversation back to issues voters care about rather than spend days fighting on ground chosen by Republican rival Mike Rogers.
Meagher supplied a second opinion.
“He just has to be right,” he said of El-Sayed’s approach.
“Some might call it confidence, some might call it cockiness,” Meagher added.
There it is: the Democratic campaign intervention, televised for everyone—including the opponent.
The panel was discussing El-Sayed’s handling of questions and attacks involving his Muslim identity and alleged family connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has denied having ties to the group.
Axelrod remained critical of Republicans’ approach to the race. His complaint was that El-Sayed was prolonging the argument rather than making the election about the economic message Axelrod thought favored him.
Meagher likewise urged a return to affordability and cost of living.
Republican strategist Brad Todd rejected Axelrod’s description of the attacks as Islamophobic: “It’s not that at all. It’s about a policy difference.”
The criticism came as El-Sayed leaned into his faith publicly, releasing a Sunday digital ad built around it.
So this wasn’t a Republican demand that he abandon his campaign. It was Democrats telling their nominee to stop letting every exchange become a seminar he has to win.
Rogers can keep buying ads. On Monday, the Democrats supplied an unsolicited performance review.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- CNN: The Arena with Kasie Hunt—October 19, 2026 transcript
- Mediaite: Democrats on CNN panel rip Abdul El-Sayed over ‘cockiness’
- NewsBusters: CNN’s Axelrod tries to wipe away El-Sayed’s alleged terror ties without any evidence
- Associated Press via News4JAX: El-Sayed releases ad highlighting his faith as Trump escalates attacks
