Former Aide To Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar Attacks Him Following Declaration Of Support For Israel

A former senior staff aide to a member of Congress who is pro-Gaza openly attacked his former boss online after he declared his support for Israel following a terrorist attack on the country by Hamas.

Adam Y. Abusalah is a 22-year-old political aide who formerly served as the communications director for Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. On Thursday, Abusalah attacked his former boss, Thanedar, who recently renounced his membership of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for its anti-Israel advocacy, with accusations of racism against black women and bad conduct, according to a post on Twitter.

“In my first meeting with Shri and another staffer (who also quit) he said ‘I don’t care about policies or legislation right now, I just need you to focus on my re-election,'” wrote Abusalah in the first of nine messages posted on Twitter. “I always reminded him that congressional work & campaign work needed to be separate but he didn’t care.”

Abusalah alleged that Thanedar often made racist remarks regarding black people. “When we were walking up to the church and he saw a group of black men outside, he looked at me and said ‘Will you take a bullet for me?’ I looked at him and said ‘Absolutely not.’ He was pissed,” Abusalah wrote.

Abusalah also alleged that Thanedar mistrusted black women, writing that “[w]hen he would hire black women to deputy positions and they were well qualified to be director or chief of staff, he wouldn’t promote them, and would keep those positions open until he found a man, preferably white,” he claimed.

In conclusion, Abusalah wrote that Thanedar was “the most ignorant, self-centered, and uninformed human I’ve ever worked with. And if you’re wondering, yes, his hair is fake, and he killed the monkeys and beagles.” His last remark refers to an unproven allegation that Thanedar wears a wig.

Thanedar has been strongly criticized by left-wing Democrats for leaving the DSA and for criticizing Hamas for its terrorist acts against Israel beginning on Oct. 7, which have led to the deaths of over 1,000 Israelis and an equal number of Palestinians as well as 27 U.S. citizens, primarily in Western Israel near Gaza.

Abusalah worked for Thanedar from January to May of 2023 and currently works for the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office in Michigan, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is of Palestinian descent and has posted pro-Gaza content on his social media web pages.

A statement by Thanedar’s chief of staff, posted on Twitter, claimed that “[t]hese untrue allegations are clearly a direct response to Congressman Thanedar’s principled stance in support of Israel’s right to self-defense and against the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas.”

Thanedar and Abusalah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.