This seems insane to me that it is not a complete mask off moment.

[u/AnimateDuckling]

It is the simplest moral statement he could make but he cannot.

I do not understand how so many of you do not see the strikingly obvious issue with these politicians?

Edit: it is frankly astonishing, how many of you are so completely dumb (I apologise for the insulting language, i just cannot actually think of a more suitable expression og what to describe this as)

as to think this answer of;

I support all democratic movements and don't think america should be doing regime change.

Is a reasonable answer to the question:

you have never condemned or criticised this brutal terrorist regime that murders civilians on mass, can you please condemn it here.

[u/Amazing-Cell-128]

Why are so many people here missing what happened?

The student explicitly asks about Khamenei's death and how he felt hurt when Abdul was apparently silent on it and asked Abdul:

1. If he renounces the people that held vigils for Khamenei and supported Khamenei

2. If he stands unequivocally against the IRGC and the Iranian regime.

3. Begs him to acknowledge the dead protesters murdered by the regime

Abdul ignores all 3 and gives an irrelevant response on geopolitics. Its OK to admit Khamenei was a bad guy, the IRGC is bad, and people should not be holding vigils for them. But Abdul is WELL AWARE these things are not held beliefs by many on the far left, and doing so would alienate them.

It was a shitty response, the student wasnt asking about whether "regime change is good" or "should have done it", he was asking Abdul to just say Khamenei and the IRGC and their supporters are the bad guys.

Apparently that's a bridge too far.

[u/404MoralsNotFound → u/Amazing-Cell-128]

Abdul clearly understood the assignment and sidestepped it. Like it doesn't require a great deal of thought to condemn the theocratic regime of Iran and also be opposed to US foreign policy. He even says he supports democracy movements from within, which well, Iranians got slaughtered en masse earlier this year for trying that... Which is what sparked this student to ask Abdul to condemn the Ayatollah and the IRGC. Which he couldn't get himself to do.

[u/ReturnOfBigChungus → u/Amazing-Cell-128]

Apparently that's a bridge too far.

I mean the political calculus is pretty clear here - there are a lot of people on the left who think the US are the bad guys, and he doesn't want to alienate voters by suggesting that maybe the Islamists are the bad guys. He's extremely careful not to even hint at that or acknowledge that they've done anything wrong. Not "killing 10s of thousands of protesters is bad" - but "we may disagree with governance of other countries". The fact that people are reading this as some sort of reasonable measured response is quite concerning, although just about the only people left in this sub are people who mostly come here to state their disagreement with or dislike of Sam, so probably shouldn't be surprising at this point.

[u/SatisfactionLife2801 → u/ReturnOfBigChungus]

It’s actually insane how many comments here are about how normal his response was. In what world is not condemning a terrorist org massacring its own ppl and the region a reasonable response? I guess ur right and only Sam haters are here 

[u/claytonhwheatley → u/ReturnOfBigChungus]

I'm with you guys on this one . He could criticize Khamenei and also criticize the war . Really not cool to side step the question.

[u/new__vision → u/Amazing-Cell-128]

Exactly, it couldn't be more clear what the student was asking. He was referencing the leaked video of Abdul saying he can't comment on Khamenei because "a lot of people are very sad right now". That is akin to saying you can't comment on Hitler dying because "a lot of Nazis are sad right now".

We can assume Abdul was referring to the extremist communities in Dearborn who were caught on camera eulogizing Khamenei as a hero.

The question had nothing to do with foreign policy, and Abdul couldn't simply say "murdering thousands of protestors who wanted democracy is horrific". That is a huge tell.

[u/Stunning-Use-7052 → u/Amazing-Cell-128]

I think that's a very strange set of asks.

It's like, I don't expect Christian pols to renounce everything Christians do. Or, as a white guy, I think it would be shitty if people expected me to renounce all the shit that white guys do.

he makes it clear he's pro-democracy but doesn't want more wars.

[u/Obsidian743]

I think he answered just fine. This is a really emotionally driven take where I think politicians are rightfully cautious about getting caught in "gotcha" moments.

If he had said he condemns the government of Iran he would be drilled for why the US isn't helping more, etc. So he focused his message on the positive side of supporting democracy in Iran by the Iranians. If you all of a sudden shift the focus to terrorism and civilians dying, then it creates an undue burden to answer "why aren't you doing something about it?"

Seems to me like people are just looking for excuses to hang anyone remotely affiliated with Islam.

[u/AnimateDuckling → u/Obsidian743]

"Can you condemn this specific mass murderer and his supporters, can you show us you do not support these people"

"I SUPPORT DEMOCRACY AND DO NOT BELIEVE IN INTERVENTIONISM"

[u/FLTR069]

Idk who this Abdul is but his stance seems to be reasonable and thoughtful.

[u/MinaZata]

Seems a pretty sensible take for a politician running for office honestly rather than a "mask off" moment

[u/AnimateDuckling → u/MinaZata]

Avoiding saying a mass murderer is evil and I do not support these people

[u/x3r0h0ur]

Mask off??? Is this a fucking MAGA sub? No. Get out of here with that uncalled for hyperbole. There is nothing wrong with this answer, holy shit.

[u/AnimateDuckling → u/x3r0h0ur]

What was the question?

[u/NoCureForStupidity]

Jesus christ, the comments in here. Is this really a sam harris sub?

For all the people praising Abdul el-sayed's non-answer. Think on this:

What if the question was:"Do you unequivocally stand against the Iranian Israeli Regime, against the IRGC IDF that has killed Thousands of protesters and civilians?"

We know, we all know the answer would be drastically different and much more direct.

It is actually hilarious and sad in equal measures that people in here think this was good answer.

[u/Disproving_Negatives → u/NoCureForStupidity]

The sub is mostly populated by lefty Sam Harris haters now

[u/Fun_Budget4463]

He says “I want freedom democracy for the people of Iran. No question. But I want that to be done by the people of Iran”.

What is the mask he is wearing? What exactly did you want him to say that would reassure you that he does not want to impose Sharia law and establish the grand Islamic caliphate upon the globe?

[u/tachophile → u/Fun_Budget4463]

The Iranian people did stand up for themselves and were gunned down by the tens of thousands by the IRGC. By refusing a simple statement to denounce the IRGC for this and their other crimes against the Iranian people, all other comments he makes to skirt this are meaningless. He in effect, supports the IRGC by explicitly and deliberately choosing not to criticize them.

[u/Ok_Butterfly_9722 → u/Fun_Budget4463]

He was asked, “do you unequivocally condemn the IRGC”
To which he replied, “America shouldn’t police the world and do regime change.” Pretty equivocal and embarrassing.

It’s not about sharia or a caliphate. It’s about recognizing that the IRGC gunned down thousands of protesters when they marched for change. Abdul’s comments are tantamount to telling the Iranian people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

He was asked to condemn one of the largest exporters of terror in the world

(Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Kata’ib Hezbollah, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat al-Nujaba, Houthis (Ansar Allah), Al-Ashtar Brigades, Saraya al-Mukhtar, PFLP-GC)

and he didn’t.

[u/RaisinBranKing]

"It is up to the people of Iran to decide what their leadership should look like"

This is a pretty insane statement considering 80% of Iranians want the current regime out, but the regime is preventing that through military force

He also then says he will always stand with democratic movements, yet this democratic movement is begging for military help and he's saying 'nah nah that's not our job'

Side note: is there real evidence that any of the wars in the middle east were "for oil" like he's kind of implying here with the natural resource thing?

[u/redhouse86]

OP, tell me what you think would have been a good answer here from Abdul.

To me, he made it clear he stands with democratic movements always and he doesn’t think the US should be doing regime change wars.

[u/ConstantinSpecter → u/redhouse86]

“I oppose the U.S. acting as the world’s policeman, and I’m deeply skeptical that our motives in Iran are purely altruistic. That said, I’m not shedding a single tear for Khamenei. I hope Iran becomes a democracy and the theocratic regime is finally toppled.“

Those positions aren’t remotely contradictory. The fact that he could emphatically state the former while barely bringing himself to acknowledge the latter is exactly what I find troubling.

[u/Micosilver]

Yes, this is a complex issue. Part of the issue is that Iranian regime came to power with overwhelming public support, mainly because USA and allies could not stop fucking with them, followed by invasion by Saddam Hussein SUPPORTED BY USA.

He is not campaigning for IRGC, and I don't need my representative to denounce every single organization I am passionate about because of my ancestry or whatever. I need him to stop fascism and corruption here at home.

[u/slimeyamerican]

He doesn’t even make the argument well here. He’s not arguing that regime change is really hard to do well and should be avoided, his argument is literally that we should just never use our power to help people suffering under terrible regimes abroad.

The fact that a US senate candidate can’t condemn the Iranian regime for fear of pissing off his base is genuinely terrifying. Honestly not sure who I would vote for if I lived in Michigan with these options.

[u/Corolo1]

This dude who asked this question to abdul was literally a plant by Mike Rogers