āi ěr - sài yì dé埃尔-赛义德yǔ与mǎ mǔ dá ní马姆达尼：zěn yàng怎样miàn duì面对zhèng zhì政治duì shǒu对手hé和pī píng批评
El-Sayed has just been elected as a U.S. senator from Michigan.
He can sometimes speak very firmly, but he is also willing to continue talking with people who disagree with him.
When faced with a Trump supporter whom he believed was not asking a sincere question, he still chose to give a serious answer.
He said, “People have the right to ask questions.”
Mayor Mamdani has a similar side: while sharply criticizing Trump, he continues to meet with him.
He said that as long as someone can help citizens ease their difficulties in life, he is willing to talk with that person.
However, being willing to understand others does not necessarily improve a relationship.
After a Jewish place of worship called “Congregation Israel” in Michigan was attacked, El-Sayed immediately discussed the reasons behind the attack and said, “People who have been hurt hurt others.”
Many local Jewish people felt that this sounded like he was making excuses for the attacker.
Several months later, when speaking to a Jewish group within the Democratic Party, he admitted, “I made a mistake.”
He said that at the time he should have clearly opposed the attack and should not have added those explanations, and he later apologized for this.
These events show that strong criticism and continued dialogue can exist at the same time; trying to understand different people can also make them even more dissatisfied if the timing of one’s words is inappropriate.
El-Sayed has publicly admitted his mistake, but whether this will lead to long-term change remains to be seen.