Brenda Abdelall under scrutiny after comments from New York Sun interview resurface; campaign says quotes don’t reflect her views today
An Egyptian-American lawyer tapped by US Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign came under scrutiny over the weekend for comments she made in 2002 that “Zionists are controlling a lot” of American politics.
The comments by Brenda Abdelall, whom the campaign announced it had hired on Wednesday to lead its Arab-American outreach effort, resurfaced Friday in an article by the Washington Free Beacon, which connected the remarks to the age-old antisemitic trope of Jews controlling politics behind the scenes.
The Harris campaign defended Abdellel on Friday, telling The New York Post, “Those 2002 comments do not reflect Brenda’s views or the views of the campaign.”
Abdelall, then a college student, made the remarks to The New York Sun while attending a convention for the American Muslim Council at which one speaker had proclaimed, “Zionists are destroying America.” The Council itself also has a history of antisemitic statements.
Following that vote, Hilliard’s opponent received significant support from pro-Israel groups, drawing donations from American Jews and others across the country who took issue with the incumbent’s views about the Middle East. Other congresspeople who voted against the resolution did not suffer electoral consequences, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
A campaign spokesperson noted Friday, “In her role at DHS, Brenda worked closely on the implementation of the country’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism” and helped stage a White House summit against hate-fueled violence.
There was no immediate comment from Abdelall herself.
Harris is running neck-and-neck with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and votes from Muslim and Arab Americans could decide the outcome in battleground states, including Michigan, where Abdelall grew up.
The 100,000-strong Arab-American community in Michigan is in the spotlight, due to concerns that voters who previously supported President Joe Biden in 2020 will stay home as a protest against the administration’s support for Israel in its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
In an interview on Thursday, Harris called herself “unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself,” but also said that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
