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Robert Reich is an American author, public-policy scholar, and former United States secretary of labor. His writing and videos examine economic inequality, political power, and American government.
Role at the time: Author and former labor secretary, personal essay
Responding to
Abdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack
"it’s clear he was merely trying to explain and give context for the violence."
The essay directly rejects the central criticism of El-Sayed's framing; this is more specific than the accompanying electoral endorsement.
Case record
After an armed assailant attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed condemned the attack and antisemitism but connected the assailant's actions to an Israeli airstrike that killed members of his family, describing violence as a cycle. Critics said the framing rationalized an antisemitic terrorist attack or shifted responsibility toward Israel and Jews. El-Sayed denied justifying the attack and later apologized for introducing context when the victims needed an unqualified condemnation.
