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Former President Clinton’s White House strategist Paul Begala said he despises socialists, as the democratic socialist movement racks up wins in recent primaries.
“Abdul won a narrow victory, and more problematic for him, he has a narrow coalition. The socialists all say — I’m a moderate. I don’t like the socialists. I can’t stand them,” Begala said on CNN’s “The Arena: Saturday,” referencing the primary win of progressive Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who does not identify as a democratic socialist, last week.
Begala said that socialists “always” express “that they care about the working class and about Black folk.”
“Well, I can tell you, Black folk and the working class don’t like the socialists. Abdul’s got a lot of work to do. I talked this week, actually, to one very impressive Democratic Black leader in Michigan. They hadn’t even been contacted by Abdul yet. What are you doing?” he added.
Democratic socialist and insurgent progressive candidates have notched wins in recent Democratic primaries across the country.
El-Sayed narrowly defeated moderate Rep. Haley Stevens (D) in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary last week. The Michigan Senate race is possibly this election season’s biggest front in the battle over the direction of the Democratic Party, as the left wing looks to drag the wider party’s policy to the left.
El-Sayed now faces questions not just about how he can lock down support outside the Democratic base, but how he is going to energize Black voters, who in the primary largely leaned toward Stevens and who Democrats have stressed El-Sayed must win over if he wants to win in November.
The Hill has reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags 2026 Michigan Senate race 2026 midterms Abdul El-Sayed Bill Clinton Clinton Haley Stevens Michigan Michigan Senate race Paul BegalaCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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