Former Clinton Advisor Delivers Brutal Reality Check for Socialists and El-Sayed

Former Clinton advisor and now CNN commentator Paul Begala wasn't being shy when it came to sharing his thoughts on socialists on a CNN panel on Saturday. In the process, he explained why he thought Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, had some big problems for the general election.

💥NEW: CNN's Paul Begala: "I don't like the socialists. I can't STAND them! The socialists ALWAYS say that they care about the working class and about black folk. I could tell you: black folk in the working class DON'T like the socialists! Abdul's got A LOT of work to do!" pic.twitter.com/IY129Jz3ZF
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) August 9, 2026

"Abdul won a narrow victory," Begala explained of El-Sayed's primary win. "And more problematic for him, he has a narrow coalition." In the process, El-Sayed also turned off some of the voters with his views.

Begala explained he was a moderate and didn't like socialists, "I can't stand them!" That made CNN's Kasie Hunt laugh, and thank him for his candor.

"The socialists always say that they care about the working class and about black folk. I could tell you: Black folk and the working class don't like the socialists! Abdul's got a lot of work to do!" Begala said.

El-Sayed denies he is a socialist, despite his prior associations with them and them backing him in the race. So I don't think many are buying the denial.

Then, Begala related a story that says a lot. He said he'd heard from one "impressive" black leader in Michigan, and El-Sayed hadn't even contacted that leader. "Like what are you doing?" he said, putting the question to the El-Sayed team. That's going to do them in if they aren't even doing that basic work to reach out to people.

It's actually that sentiment — that "Abdul's got a lot of work to do" — that had El-Sayed surrogate, Hasan Piker, flipping out, saying Democrats who said that were "Islamophobic pieces of sh**." That's a small problem if you want those people to vote for you. What is El-Sayed "doing"? He's reaching out to Piker and his listeners. We saw El-Sayed justify the relationship by saying that on "Meet the Press" on Sunday. But that's not necessarily going to help him in a more centrist state like Michigan.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten also reported the information about El-Sayed not doing well with black and working-class voters. So that confirms Begala's take that there's an issue there.

Dems May End Up Kicking Themselves With What the Data Now Says About Michigan Senate Race

If the El-Sayed team isn't reaching out to the voters they need, their options are going to get even narrower, and that spells real trouble for the general. It's a real issue; extremism does not appeal to American voters. It even turns off some Democrats. As we've already reported, Republican candidate Mike Rogers is doing the work and reaching out to Democrats to bring them into his tent. As former Clinton pollster Mark Penn said, he thought it highly likely that Rogers could bring in 5 percent, and that if he did that in a close election, that could give him the win.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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