Michael LaRosa refuses to back El-Sayed over 9/11 extremist rhetoric

Former Jill Biden press secretary Michael LaRosa said he won’t support Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, citing the candidate’s refusal to distance himself from far-left streamer Hasan Piker over his past remarks about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

LaRosa, who served as press secretary to former first lady Jill Biden, made the unusually sharp break with his party in a post responding to reports that he was supporting Republican Mike Rogers over El-Sayed.

At the center of LaRosa’s criticism is El-Sayed’s association with Piker, who drew widespread condemnation after saying during a 2019 livestream that “America deserved 9/11.”

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Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers is making a direct pitch to Michigan Democrats following Abdul El-Sayed’s primary victory. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images ; JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images))

El-Sayed has campaigned alongside Piker and, when pressed about the remark, has argued that appearing with the streamer does not mean he endorses everything Piker has said.

For LaRosa, the controversy is deeply personal. He said the mother of his best friend died on Sept. 11 after jumping from the 95th floor of the World Trade Center rather than remain inside the burning building.

“I won’t defend or support anyone who is too cowardly to stand up to extremists who think the mother of my best friend, who jumped from 95 stories because the alternative was worse, deserved what happened to her,” LaRosa wrote. “Her only crime was showing up to work that morning.”

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LaRosa concluded by accusing El-Sayed of refusing to stand up to “the guy who says she ‘deserved’ what she got that morning she showed up for work.”

LaRosa’s rebuke is about more than one Democrat refusing to back another.

It highlights a growing fault line within the party over extremism and the boundaries of acceptable political rhetoric. Those divisions could ultimately push some longtime Democrats across the aisle in consequential races.

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El-Sayed is facing Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers for the open seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, setting up a closely watched contest in the battleground state that could factor heavily into the fight for control of the Senate. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

That dynamic could prove particularly consequential in Michigan, where the Senate contest could help shape the balance of power in Washington and even a small erosion of Democratic support could matter.