Michigan's El-Sayed Endorsed 'Reparations' for 'Indigenous Peoples' in Deleted Tweet Attacking Thanksgiving
'Just a reminder this #Thanksgiving: This country was built on the systematic annihilation of Indigenous Peoples,' Senate hopeful wrote
Abdul El-Sayed (cropped, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Alana Goodman
May 20, 2026
Michigan's left-wing Democratic Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, called for reparations for Native Americans in a since-deleted social media post that criticized the holiday of Thanksgiving and said the United States "was built on the systematic annihilation of Indigenous Peoples," an archived copy of the post reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon shows.
El-Sayed's post came on Thanksgiving Day in 2019. "Just a reminder this #Thanksgiving," he wrote. "This country was built on the systematic annihilation of Indigenous Peoples, whose ancestors suffer some of the highest rates of homelessness, joblessness, and mortality today."
"We owe so much more than 'thanks,'" El-Sayed continued. "Time for Reparations." He later replied to his own post to clarify that he was referring to the "descendants" of "Indigenous Peoples," rather than their "ancestors."
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/michigans-el-sayed-endorsed-reparations-for-indigenous-peoples-in-deleted-tweet-attacking-thanksgiving/