Dem attorney backs GOP hopeful in Michigan race against El-Sayed, 'jumping ship' from his party's 'lunatics'
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Video Longtime Democrat with Clinton ties jumps ship, says party has ‘lost its moral center’ Julian Epstein, the former chief counsel for House Judiciary Democrats, tells Fox News Digital that he will ditch longtime party and support Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers.
A veteran Democratic attorney is speaking out in opposition to Michigan's new Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.
Julian Epstein, who served as the chief legal counsel for House Democrats during the Clinton impeachment hearing and worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, penned an op-ed in the New York Post Thursday about his support for El-Sayed's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.
In an interview Friday with Fox News Digital , Epstein said his op-ed was his declaration that he is "jumping ship" to the other side in the highly-contested Senate race.
Longtime Democratic strategist Julian Epstein, right, spoke with Fox News Digital about his op-ed expressing his support for Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers in opposition to Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. (Paul Morigi/WireImage)
"The Democrats have gone off the deep end," Epstein told Fox News Digital. "I think the lunatics are in charge of the asylum. I think that there is no room in the tent for people that want to destroy our Constitution. There's no room in the tent for people that want to align themselves with radical Islam. There's no room in a tent for people that want to align themselves with antisemitism.
"And there's no room, in my view, for people who don't have any interest in building for the next generation but only want to redistribute what others have created and want to basically tear down the free market that has been the most effective anti-poverty liberation machine that human beings have ever invented."
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Epstein warned his party it is "jumping off a cliff" with the positions it has embraced, predicting that a "large group of Democrats" will ultimately defect.
"I have been criticizing the Democratic Party for a long time as being far to the left of the median voter. So, just as a matter of practical politics and pragmatism, I think the party has gone way too far left, but I think that the party has also lost its moral center," Epstein said.
The Democratic strategist went on to praise Rogers as being a "practical, middle-of-the-road normie guy," insisting he would have aligned with Democrats during the Clinton administration.
Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, left, is making a direct pitch to Michigan Democrats after Abdul El-Sayed’s primary victory. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images; Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, El-Sayed narrowly won the Democratic primary against Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, who was seen as the establishment favorite who largely campaigned on progressive views but has been supportive of Israel.
High-profile Democrats are rallying behind El-Sayed's campaign, but it is unclear whether Stevens' voters will support the party's nominee in November.
In his op-ed, Epstein said Rogers will be able to "paint a devastating portrait" of El-Sayed.
"El-Sayed parrots Sen. Bernie Sanders’ delusion that attaches no importance to generating wealth — and only cares about redistributing it," Epstein wrote. "He expresses sympathy for Mideastern terrorist movements that masquerade as liberation efforts, giving cover to terror attacks on Jewish synagogues in the US ('hurt people hurt people') and going to absurd lengths to avoid offending supporters of Iran’s slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He doesn’t believe the planet’s only Jewish state has a right to exist.
" Hasan Piker , his principal campaign surrogate, blames the U.S. for 9/11 and professes his love for China’s madman dictator Mao Zedong, who slaughtered millions of his own people. Piker praised Hamas after the Oct. 7 massacre and cites every oppressive tyrant from Fidel Castro to Nicolas Maduro as his guiding lights.
"Democrats can’t run from this lunacy in November."
Julian Epstein, center right, served as the chief legal counsel for House Democrats during the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton. (Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images)
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to brian.flood@fox.com and on Twitter: @briansflood.
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