2026-07-07T17:09:56.105Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
密歇根州民主党联邦参议员竞选领跑者阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德此前就削减警察经费发表的言论引发批评。在近期采访中，埃尔赛义德坚称自己“从未、从未呼吁过削减警察经费”。上周在接受CNN主持人卡西·亨特采访时，他表示自己删除了支持该运动的旧推文，因为这些内容被“断章取义”，并称其为“华盛顿特区的标题党诱饵”。
但CNN“档案文件”栏目对其媒体露面内容的审查显示，2020年的多次采访中，埃尔赛义德都明确支持削减警察经费。“我们确实需要削减警察经费，”埃尔赛义德在2020年的一次电台采访中说道，当时他专门讨论了这一口号可能破坏刑事司法改革努力的问题。
埃尔赛义德2020年和2021年的采访画面显示，他不仅公开使用“削减警察经费”的表述，还支持该运动的核心原则——将警察预算重新分配到心理健康、反贫困等其他公共服务领域。
这番言论发表于2020年5月乔治·弗洛伊德遇害后“削减警察经费”运动热度最高的时期。尽管该运动在进步派人士中获得支持，但在广大公众中仍不受欢迎。
“我们正处于这样一个时刻，很多公众对话被压缩到280个字符以内，”2020年6月，埃尔赛义德在底特律公共电台节目中说道，他辩称，与其躲在话题标签背后模棱两可，不如解释清楚需要采取的行动。当时埃尔赛义德是一名公共卫生倡导者、播客主持人，也曾担任底特律前公共卫生主管。
“我认为，我们确实需要削减警察经费，从本质上讲，削减警察经费就是减少对那些将人监禁或当街杀害的手段的投入，”他补充道，“同时加大对教育、赋能社区的投入，让社区有能力应对系统性贫困——这种贫困因系统性种族主义而在太多社区肆意滋生。”
埃尔赛义德补充说，这意味着要减少对警察的资金投入。
“如果我们把钱投到社会服务领域会怎样？如果我们把钱投到公立学校会怎样？如果我们把钱投到公共图书馆会怎样？那时候的世界会是什么样子？我认为这才是我们应该走的路。这意味着既要加大对这些服务的投入，也要减少对警察的投入，”他说道。
他的竞选发言人罗克西·里奇纳援引埃尔赛义德在密歇根州韦恩县与当地执法部门合作的公共卫生工作经历，在给CNN的一份声明中表示，“他的观点已经变得更加细致入微”。
“仅用一个简单的词语，不足以全面解释我们为应对刑事司法体系这样复杂的挑战所需要的改革，”里奇纳说道。
“正如他2023年在韦恩县所做的那样，阿卜杜勒认为我们需要改进执法人员的招聘、留存和退休福利制度，让执法人员来自他们所服务的社区。他还认为我们必须摒弃军事化警务，通过《乔治·弗洛伊德警务正义法案》，转而采用社区暴力干预、行为健康响应和公共卫生改善措施，以减少暴力行为，保护社区和执法人员的生命安全。”
埃尔赛义德已成为民主党联邦参议员竞选的领跑者，这场将于8月4日举行的密歇根州初选是全美关注度最高的参议院竞选之一。在州参议员马洛里·麦克莫罗周日退选后，他将与众议员黑利·史蒂文斯展开角逐。
埃尔赛义德和史蒂文斯定于周二晚间进行全州电视辩论。
民主党初选的获胜者预计将在11月与共和党前众议员迈克·罗杰斯对决。作为近三次总统选举中两次（包括2024年）支持特朗普的摇摆州，密歇根州共和党很可能会仔细审查民主党人过去在犯罪和警务问题上的立场。
现年41岁的埃尔赛义德是一名进步派活动家，曾担任底特律卫生局首席公共卫生官员，后来出任韦恩县卫生、人力与退伍军人事务部部长。他还主持过播客《美国剖析》，并曾担任CNN撰稿人。
即便在2020年，多项民调也反复显示，主张“削减警察经费”的政策极不受欢迎。2020年7月的福克斯新闻民调显示，82%的受访密歇根州登记选民对当地警察持正面看法。2021年4月的Axios/益普索民调发现，仅有27%的受访者支持“削减警察经费”运动，70%的人表示反对。
上周被CNN主持人卡西·亨特问及是否仍支持削减警察经费时，埃尔赛义德没有直接回答，只是称他的推文被断章取义了。
密歇根州民主党联邦参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德谈民主党人可从进步派候选人身上汲取的经验
10:43 • 来源：CNN
密歇根州民主党联邦参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德谈民主党人可从进步派候选人身上汲取的经验
10:43
“我删除了所有推文，因为我不想它们像这样被断章取义，以至于你们可以借此转移话题，不谈密歇根民众真正希望讨论的、他们希望领导层真正为他们争取的事情，”埃尔赛义德说道。
亨特两次追问他是否仍支持削减警察经费，埃尔赛义德都没有直接回答。相反，他表示选民应该根据他管理韦恩县卫生、人力与退伍军人事务部的记录来评判他，称他“为需要资金的体系提供了经费”。
“我认为这场关于2020年以及推文将如何被炒作的辩论，如果你想获得点击量，在CNN上讨论确实不错，”他补充道，“但这没什么实际意义，密歇根街头的民众或社区里没人真的问过我这些问题。所以，如果你想谈谈住房、医疗保健或企业在我们政治中的主导地位，我认为这些才是人们真正问我的、更有意义的问题，也就是他们希望下一任参议员在密歇根州能做些什么，而不是为了华盛顿特区的标题党诱饵。”
这次采访之前，CNN在2025年11月报道了他删除的推文，此后埃尔赛义德曾试图与这一口号划清界限。
在那篇报道发布后不久接受《底特律新闻》采访时，他说：“我想明确一点，我实际上从未、从未呼吁过削减警察经费。我在那次谈话中的目的是帮助所有人理解我们当时在讨论什么。”
但CNN报道的已删除推文显示，埃尔赛义德多次支持“削减警察经费”运动的实质内容，即便他将其表述为“重新资助”其他公共服务。CNN统计了数千条已删除的推文，其中有十几条是支持“削减警察经费”运动的。
“美国大多数主要城市在警察部门上的投入太多，以至于用警察来管控贫困，而在公立学校、卫生部门、 recreation部门和住房方面的投入太少，无法消除贫困。解决这个问题就是#Defund运动的意义所在，”埃尔赛义德在2020年6月的一条已删除帖子中写道。
“警察已经变成了我们部署来对付本国人民的常备军，”他在2020年6月的另一篇帖子中补充道。
埃尔赛义德已删除的推文并不是他唯一公开支持削减警察经费的场合。
2020年全年，他在采访、演讲和文章中多次支持该运动的部分目标，通常将其描述为将政府资源从警务和监禁转向公共卫生、教育和反贫困项目。
据当地报纸《马尼斯蒂克新闻倡导者》报道，2020年11月，他在对一个大学生团体发表演讲时说道：“问题变成了，作为一个社会，我们应该在哪些地方投资？我们应该投资于军事化警察——配备军事装备的警察——还是应该投资于心理健康服务、减贫项目、食品保障、步行设施、更优质的空气和更便捷的供水？”
2021年5月，埃尔赛义德在他的Substack博客上写道，与其开展应对日益严重犯罪问题的建设性对话，这场讨论“很可能会退回到关于警务的辩论”。
“具有讽刺意味的是，那些主张削减警察预算的人并不是在真空中提出这一主张的：他们主张将这些资金投入到解决不安全的根源问题上，而疫情加剧了这些根源问题，也是许多犯罪问题的根本原因，”他写道，“削减警察预算意味着更多地投资于住房、儿童保育、食品援助和收入支持。”
作为一名流行病学家，埃尔赛义德经常将“系统性种族主义和警察暴力”视为一个公共卫生问题。2020年夏天，他参与了密歇根大学举办的一场关于美国警察暴力的在线研讨会。
“所以我们必须扪心自问，警察部门真的需要坦克和战争武器，以及从国外军队遗留下来的装备吗？警察真的需要使用枪支吗？我们真的需要这么多警察力量吗？”他在研讨会上说道。
他继续说道：“当我们谈论所谓的‘削减警察经费’时，这是一个关于如何调整政府规模的问题，摆脱那些导致我们将资金投入到警务的战争装备而非儿童公共卫生的种族主义意识形态。”
“削减警察经费就是减少对那些将人监禁或当街杀害的手段的投入，同时加大对教育、赋能和社区参与的投入，”埃尔赛义德在2020年的另一次当地媒体采访中说道。
‘We do need to defund the police’: 2020 interviews undermine Abdul El-Sayed’s claim he never advocated for unpopular movement
2026-07-07T17:09:56.105Z / CNN
Michigan Democratic Senate front-runner Abdul El-Sayed has faced criticism for previous comments he made about defunding the police. In recent interviews, El-Sayed has insisted he “never, never called for defunding” the police. Last week in an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt, he said he deleted old tweets supporting the movement because they were taken “out of context,” calling them “clickbait in DC.”
But interviews from 2020 show El-Sayed repeatedly endorsed defunding the police, according to a CNN KFile review of his media appearances. “We do need to defund the police,” El-Sayed said in a 2020 radio interview while specifically discussing how the slogan could undermine criminal justice reform efforts.
El-Sayed’s interviews from 2020 and 2021 show him embracing the “defund the police” movement — not just uttering the phrase but supporting the key principle of reinvesting funds from the police into other public-sector spaces such as mental health and anti-poverty efforts.
His comments came during the height of the defund movement’s popularity following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. While the movement gained traction among progressives, it remained politically unpopular with the broader public.
“We are in a moment where a lot of our public conversation gets chewed down into 280 characters or less,” El-Sayed said in June 2020 on Detroit Public Radio, arguing it was better to explain what needed to be done than hedging “behind a hashtag.”El-Sayed at the time was a public health advocate, podcast host and Detroit’s former public health director.
“I believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets,” he added. “And in investing more in the means of educating and empowering, engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty, that we’ve allowed systematic racism to allow to fester in too many communities.”
El-Sayed added it meant investing less money in police.
“What if we were to invest in social services? What if we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries? What would the world look like there? And I think that has to be the way we go. And that means both investing more in these services, and it also means investing less in police,” he said.
Roxie Richner, a spokesperson for his campaign, pointed to El-Sayed’s public health experience working with local law enforcement in Wayne County, Michigan, and told CNN in a statement that “his perspective has become more nuanced.”
“One simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system,” Richner said.
“Just as he did in Wayne County in 2023, Abdul believes we need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve. He also believes we must reject militarized policing, pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and opt for community violence intervention, behavioral health response, and improvements in public health to reduce violence and protect the lives of communities and law enforcement alike.”
El-Sayed has emerged as the Democratic front-runner ahead of Michigan’s August 4 primary in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races. He will face US Rep. Haley Stevens after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out Sunday.
El-Sayed and Stevens are scheduled to face off Tuesday night in a statewide televised debate.
The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November. In a battleground state carried by President Donald Trump in two of the last three elections, including 2024, Michigan Republicans are likely to scrutinize Democrats’ past positions on crime and policing.
El-Sayed, a 41-year-old progressive activist, served as the lead public health official for the Detroit Health Department and later as the head of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. He also hosted a podcast, “America Dissected,” and served as a CNN contributor.
Even in 2020, polling repeatedly showed policies advocating to “defund the police” were extremely unpopular. A Fox News poll from July 2020 showed that 82% of surveyed Michigan registered voters had a favorable view of their local police. A 2021 Axios/Ipsos poll found that just 27% of respondents supported the “defund the police” movement as of April 2021, with 70% opposed to it.
When asked last week by CNN’s Kasie Hunt on whether he still supported defunding the police, El-Sayed did not directly answer but said his tweets were taken out of context.
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed on what democrats can learn from proressive candidates
10:43 • Source: CNN
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed on what democrats can learn from proressive candidates
10:43
“I deleted all the tweets because I didn’t want them to be taken out of context like this so that you could distract from the actual conversation that Michiganders really want to have about what they want their leadership to actually fight for them to do,” El-Sayed said.
Pressed twice by Hunt on whether he still supports defunding the police, El-Sayed did not directly answer. Instead, he said voters should judge him by his record running Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services, saying he “funded the system because it needed to be funded.”
“I think this debate about 2020 and the ways that tweets are going to play are really nice on CNN if you want to get clicks,” he added. “They’re not that effective, and nobody really asks me about them on the streets or in communities in Michigan. So, if you want to talk about housing or health care or corporate dominance in our politics, I think those are a lot more legitimate questions that people are actually asking me about what they want their next senator to do in the state of Michigan, rather than for clickbait in DC.”
The interview came after El-Sayed previously sought to distance himself from the slogan after CNN reported on his deleted tweets in November 2025.
In an interview with the Detroit News shortly after the article was published, he said, “I want to be clear, I actually never, never called for defunding. My goal in that conversation was to help everybody to understand what we were talking about.”
But the deleted tweets CNN reported show El-Sayed repeatedly embraced the substance of the defund movement, even when he framed it as “refunding” other public services. CNN tallied thousands of deleted tweets, including about a dozen in support of the “defund the police” movement.
“Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,” El-Sayed wrote in a since-deleted post from June 2020.
“The police have become standing armies we deploy against our own people,” he added in another June 2020 post.
El-Sayed’s deleted tweets were not his only public expressions of support for defunding the police.
Throughout 2020, he repeatedly endorsed some of the movement’s goals in interviews, speeches and writings, often describing them as shifting government resources away from policing and incarceration and toward public health, education and anti-poverty programs.
“The question becomes, where are the places that we as a society ought to invest? Should we be investing in militarized police — police that have military materiel — or should we be investing in mental health services, poverty reduction, food, walkability, higher-quality air and better access to water?” he said in November 2020 when speaking to a college group, according to the Manistee News Advocate, a local newspaper.
And in May 2021, El-Sayed wrote on his Substack that instead of having productive conversations to combat rising crime, the discussion “will likely reduce back to the debate about policing.”
“The irony of this is that those advocating for reductions in police budgets aren’t doing so in a vacuum: they’re advocating for those dollars to be invested in taking on exactly the same causes of insecurity that the pandemic exacerbated that underlie so many of its consequences, like crime,” he wrote. “Smaller police budgets mean more investment in housing, childcare, food assistance, and income support.”
An epidemiologist, El-Sayed often framed “systemic racism and police brutality” as a public health issue. In the summer of 2020, El-Sayed was a contributor in an online University of Michigan seminar on police brutality in America.
“So we have to ask ourselves, do police departments really need tanks and weapons of war and the materiel that’s coming back as hand-me-downs from the military abroad? Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?” he said at the seminar.
He continued, “When we talk about the question of quote-un-quote ‘defunding the police,’ it’s a question of asking, how do we right-size government away from the racist ideologies that have led us to investing in war materiel for policing rather than public health for children?”
“Defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets and investing more in the means of educating and empowering engaging communities,” El-Sayed said in another 2020 local press interview.
