Abdul El-Sayed Reacts to Katie Zacharia Criticism by Pointing Out Her Name Is Arabic: ‘Isn’t That Rich?’

Instead of a traditional clapback to recent attacks from the White House, Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed gave an etymology lesson.

In an interview published by TMZ on Thursday, October 15, the Michigan Democrat, 41, was asked about new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia branding him a “radical” in a recent appearance on Fox News, per Newsweek.

“It doesn’t bother me,” El-Sayed responded with a shrug. “My conversation is with the 10 million people in this state. They’re the folks that I’m focused on. They’re the folks who get to decide who the next U.S. Senator is.”

“And I know Michiganders are open-hearted and big-minded and they’re bigger than Kate Zacharia,” he added. “And also her name is Zacharia. It’s an Arabic name. Isn’t that rich?”

The former political commentator, 41, took her Hollywood producer husband Tyler Zacharia‘s last name when they wed in 2011.

TMZ also asked El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, about President Donald Trump referring to him as “Mohammed” on multiple occasions, including at an October 9 event, per CNBC.

“You know it is my middle name. You know what it means?” the politician asked. “Mohammed means ‘the praised one.’ You know what Abdul means? It means servant. So he took me from servant to the praised one. He thinks he’s doing me a disservice.”

But pressed on his emotional response to the name being used in a derogatory way, El-Sayed, who is Muslim, pointed out that he’s faced similar treatment before.

“I’ve been me my whole life. It’s been 42 years. I turn 42 at the end of this month,” he pointed out. “Anybody who’s ever been discriminated against knows that there are a few people who speak very loudly.”

“And look, I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he continued. “You know what they did to President Obama when he ran in 2008? Same stuff they’re doing to me, right? ‘Barack Hussein Obama.’ They accentuated his middle name. I get the opportunity to do this with a level of grace that I hope opens the door for the next person. Just like President Obama opened the door for me.”

“It makes me feel determined to build a bigger America. That’s how it makes me feel. But this is not new to me,” El-Sayed concluded. “I understand that too often this is how a few small people want to behave to try to distract all the rest of us from what’s really at stake.”