Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democrat running for the Senate, is facing online criticism over a campaign video aimed at Black voters. The Gateway Pundit reported that the outreach effort was intended to help El-Sayed connect with voters who have not embraced his campaign or the broader direction of the Democratic Party’s DSA wing.
According to the report, El-Sayed’s campaign has struggled with Black voters. The report also said Democrats were calling in Barack Obama to help the candidate. Rather than focus on policy, however, El-Sayed’s video took a personal and highly calculated approach.
In the clip, El-Sayed sits with a Black woman at a restaurant. He attempts to assure her that he is different from other Arab men whom he portrays as racist toward Black people and disrespectful toward women. The woman appears to nod along while saying little. Critics quickly accused El-Sayed of relying on racial stereotypes instead of making a substantive argument for his campaign.
The exchange then took an unexpected turn when a waiter arrived to take their orders. The woman selected blackened catfish. El-Sayed could have ordered the same meal, but instead chose fried chicken.
The key moment was highlighted in a post on X:
That decision became the central moment of the controversy. Critics viewed the order as an awkward attempt to signal that El-Sayed understood the audience he was trying to reach. The report frames the moment as a clear example of racial pandering, and the clip quickly became the subject of mockery.
Responses on X were immediate. One user mocked the campaign for producing a Black voter outreach video to demonstrate that El-Sayed was not racist, only for him to order fried chicken. Another portrayed the restaurant appearance as a desperate response to poor polling among Black voters.
Jesse Kelly also weighed in, arguing that Democratic efforts to pander to Black voters are among the most entertaining moments in politics. His reaction added to the growing pile-on surrounding the video.
Other users questioned whether the clip was intended as a Saturday Night Live skit. Additional replies piled on with jokes involving hot sauce, malt liquor, and menthol cigarettes. Those comments showed how quickly the discussion moved away from El-Sayed’s campaign message and toward accusations that the entire appearance was built around stereotypes.
One especially harsh reaction compared the moment to a return of the minstrel-show era. Another commenter pointed to what they saw as a contradiction between El-Sayed’s reported emphasis on working out and healthy living and his decision to order fried chicken for the camera.
The controversy also revived an earlier post from a user who had predicted that El-Sayed might eventually stage a campaign moment involving halal watermelon and fried chicken. That prediction was posted days before the restaurant video drew attention, making it another part of the online discussion.
For critics, the issue was not the menu choice alone but the political calculation behind it. They argued that the video treated Black voters as an audience to be managed through stereotypes rather than addressed on policy. For a campaign already struggling to build support, the episode has created another embarrassing distraction.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
HAHAHAHAHAHA it was fried chicken https://t.co/SkmDCHx2xG pic.twitter.com/J6Wmn6lJlJ
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 20, 2026