El-Sayed clashes with Jesse Watters over ‘transgender’ procedures, ICE, Sharia law in tense interview

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed clashed with Fox News host Jesse Watters in an Aug. 24 interview over a slew of topics, including “gender transition” medical interventions for minors, immigration enforcement, Sharia law, taxes on the wealthy, and the Iran war. 

El-Sayed, a progressive who defeated the establishment favorite in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary Aug. 4, is facing Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races. 

El-Sayed on immigration enforcement 

El-Sayed opened the “Jesse Watters Primetime” interview by telling Watters he hoped the two could have a “good, wholesome conversation,” saying they “both love America” and “freedom.” The discussion quickly turned to El-Sayed’s call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the two disagreeing over the agency’s record.

El-Sayed argued that the federal government enforced immigration law before ICE was created in 2003 under its predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

“We were able to enforce our immigration policies without shooting people in the face and the back of the head,” El-Sayed said.

Watters responded that the INS “did the same thing as ICE back then” and asked El-Sayed how many illegal immigrants were living in the country.

“I mean, to your point –– Jesse, Jesse, let me just answer the question,” El-Sayed said amid cross-talk. “To your point, we had far fewer under INS. If you want to do that correlation, we have ICE now, and we have far, far more undocumented people. So ICE is clearly not working.”

El-Sayed repeatedly argued that immigration was not among the issues Michigan voters most frequently raised with him on the campaign trail.

“They’re asking me about how they’re going to afford their gas and groceries,” he said.

The exchange continued, with Watters saying Michiganders “also don’t want to get molested,” as he cited an ICE arrest of a Southeast Asian man accused of molesting a child.

Circumcision comparison sparks heated exchange 

One of the interview’s sharpest exchanges, which quickly drew attention online, came when Watters pressed El-Sayed over “transgender” medical interventions for minors. The Fox News host asked El-Sayed if he believes “it’s okay for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off.” 

“Do you really want to have this conversation?” El-Sayed retorted. “Are you circumcised?” 

“Yeah, but I mean that’s a personal question, doctor,” Watters replied. 

Watters said circumcision is “different than castration,” but El-Sayed continued with the comparison. 

“I’m just saying that yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid’s ding-a-ling, so if you really want to bring that up, you can,” El-Sayed said. “I just think you guys are really selective about how you want to talk about these things.”

Watters called the comparison “wacky” and told El-Sayed that “Michigan’s not going for that. That is sick stuff.”

Watters also repeatedly asked El-Sayed whether men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Rather than giving a yes-or-no answer, El-Sayed said such questions “ought to be decided by people who govern sports” and that he was instead focused on “the health care crisis and Big Pharma.”

El-Sayed denies seeking to impose Sharia law

El-Sayed also faced questions about his past comments supporting Sharia law and Republican criticism of his views.

“Nobody is trying to push Sharia law on anyone else, just like I hope nobody is trying to push Canon law on anybody else, because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of religion,” El-Sayed said in response. 

He added that he “would never want somebody to push their faith on me, and I would never want to push my faith on someone else,” and accused some Republicans of using the issue to target Muslims because of their religion. 

The Democratic nominee then criticized Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over proposed legislation that would bar foreign nationals who advocate for Sharia law from entering the U.S.

“The idea that you have somebody like Tommy Tuberville — who barely was good at coaching football — is out here trying to ban Sharia law when there’s less than 1% of the Muslim community in America, as if somehow Muslims are out here trying to push Sharia law, that seems to me to be deliberately targeting the Muslim community because they’re different,” El-Sayed said.

He also accused President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance of targeting him because of his religion, saying there is “statistical evidence” the two “like to target me simply as a function of my faith.”

Questions over Iran war

The pair also sparred over the ongoing war with Iran. Watters asked El-Sayed whether he was glad the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead. Khamenei was killed in the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that began the Iran war Feb. 28.

El-Sayed said he would “never defend the Iranian regime” but argued that the U.S. should not have entered a conflict without a clear way out. 

“I am going to defend the idea that we probably shouldn’t be fighting wars we don’t know how to get out of,” El-Sayed said. “Oopsie. You go to war, and you tell us that it’s going to be a special military operation. That was in February, and we’re now in September, almost, and we’re still fighting the special military operation. I mean, it’s not working.” 

El-Sayed pointed to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that Trump withdrew the U.S. from in 2018, arguing that the nuclear agreement provided stronger safeguards against an Iranian nuclear weapon than the current conflict. 

Watters countered that he was pleased Iran’s nuclear facilities were “buried under a mountain of rubble.”

“You understand that, like, nuclear material doesn’t just go away because you buried it under a mountain of rubble?” El-Sayed responded. “You understand they can still go back and bury it out, right?”

Watters said the U.S. was “watching it from Space Force” and that if anyone digs up any nuclear material it will go “kaboom.”

Clash over taxing the wealthy

El-Sayed also reiterated his support for imposing additional taxes on people with more than $100 million in wealth, arguing that the revenue could be used for roads, infrastructure, and education.

“The question ultimately is, ‘Do you want to drive on good roads, or would you rather have a billionaire make a second billion?’” El-Sayed asked. “That’s what Mike Rogers wants. That’s what Donald Trump wants. Apparently, that’s what you want. I think the people in Michigan want something different.”

El-Sayed accused the host of “defending billionaires,” to which Watters said, “No, I just think I have the right to the fruits of my own labor. That’s America.”

Fox News reported that El-Sayed and his wife reported $686,069 in income in 2025, placing their household among Michigan’s top earners.

Throughout the interview, El-Sayed accused Watters of focusing on divisive social and cultural issues rather than the economic concerns he said Michigan voters raise with him. 

“You have not asked me one time about the issues that people actually care about in Michigan,” he said, citing health care costs, gas prices, and groceries. 

Watters closed by crediting El-Sayed for appearing on the network and by criticizing his platform.

“I respect the fact that you came on,” Watters said. “I don’t think you’ve really looked into some of the policies you’re pushing. You seem a little naive, Abdul. I give you credit for facing the music, but some of the stuff’s just straight up wacky. I don’t know if that’s going to fly in Michigan, but we’re going to find out.”

El-Sayed responded in closing, “If we want to have a serious conversation about what Michiganders are feeling, I’d love to come back on and talk about getting money out of politics and putting money in your pocket, passing Medicare for all because I’ll tell you none of that is wacky and that’s what Michiganders want.”

Michigan race remains close

Recent polling shows a tight contest between Rogers and El-Sayed. A Fox News poll conducted Aug. 6-10 found Rogers leading El-Sayed 51% to 47% among registered voters, though the result was within the survey’s margin of error. Republicans were also more unified behind Rogers than Democrats were behind El-Sayed, according to the poll.

An AARP Michigan survey conducted Aug. 9-11 similarly showed a close race, with El-Sayed leading 48% to 47% among likely voters. Rogers held a nine-point advantage among voters aged 50 and older. The poll found that affordability, Social Security, and health care ranked among voters’ top concerns.