Abdul El-Sayed Defends Comments on Fireworks During Radio Appearance

<p>Democratic Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defended his previous comments regarding Fourth of July fireworks during a radio appearance on Monday.</p><p>During the show "The Breakfast Club," El-Sayed was questioned by host Charlamagne tha God about his earlier support for defunding the police and his criticism of firework celebrations on Independence Day. El-Sayed responded to the criticism.</p><p>"They're coming at me on fireworks," El-Sayed stated. "I'm like, 'All right, first, if your whole conception of America is that it's fireworks, I'm so sorry. You don't have a complete conception of America. But even then, right, like what is it?'"</p><p>He added: "I said, 'Well, every time we do a fireworks show, it destroys the air quality and people have asthma exacerbations and heart attacks the next day.' That's all I was saying. You know what I mean? I'm not saying we shouldn't have fireworks. I'm just saying maybe like there are other ways to show your love.'"</p><p>El-Sayed's comments follow a CNN report earlier this month indicating that he deleted or hid approximately 100 YouTube videos before launching his Senate campaign. Among these videos was a request for Americans to "please" find alternative ways to celebrate the Fourth of July instead of using fireworks, citing air quality and risks to children and pets as reasons.</p><p>The video reportedly included four reasons "why fireworks suck" and a chapter titled "Fireworks just aren't worth it: hear us out."</p><p>During a previous appearance on "Hannity," Republican nominee Mike Rogers criticized El-Sayed for his deleted posts and comments.</p><p>"This guy spent hours hating on what most Michiganders would enjoy in their pastimes, and he should be held to account for that," Rogers said. "These are views that he held, that he was pretty strong about, but he knew that he had to delete them all… If people really knew who he was, they wouldn’t vote for him."</p><p>Fox News Digital reached out to the El-Sayed and Rogers campaigns for comment but did not immediately receive a response.</p>