State Rep. Shri Thanedar’s (D-13th District) former communications director, Adam Abusalah, posted a series of accusatory messages on X (formerly Twitter) blasting the Detroit-area politician and alleging various assertions against Thanedar. Abusalah cited multiple instances that he claims represent significant breaches of moral and ethical conduct by the congressman, two of which stand out starkly more than others.
“I once attended an event with him in Detroit. 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 went on to admit that Shri allegedly resents Black women. “Shri had a hard time trusting black women. When 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.”
These posts came in response to State Rep. Rashida Talib’s (D-13th District) own indictments of Thanedar, “While he was busy posting meme’s, his residents are calling my office asking for my assistance because he is absent from doing his job.” These comments come after Thanedar criticized Talib’s words about an attack by Hamas on Israeli people on October 7.
This has now led to Detroit’s Democratic U.S. Representatives, Thanedar and Tlaib, to have a public disagreement because of the recent fighting between Israel and Hamas. Thanedar shared his thoughts in an interview with Jewish Insider: “Calling this ‘resistance’ is dehumanizing. … At a time like this, for a member of Congress to call them militants and resistance, as a result of whatever Israel may have done in the past is totally insensitive,” Thanedar said, “and we don’t need such hate and bigotry and antisemitism in the halls of Congress.”
Contrarily, Talib continued to come back at Thanedar’s ability, or lack thereof according to Tlaib, to serve his constituents. “He isn’t putting in the work of a public servant and is leaving his working-class communities across his district with no real advocate.”
Thanedar took to social to comment on the Israel Hamas situation. He posted the following message: “The recent attacks by Hamas in Israel deeply sadden me. I condemn these violent acts against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. My heart goes out to the families and victims affected. The calculated aggression targeting innocent civilians is heartbreaking and cannot be tolerated. America stands firmly with Israel, and I wholeheartedly support its right to defend itself. Congress must rally behind Israel until this threat is addressed and security is restored. In these trying times, we must remain united and work towards peace and safety.”
Thanedar’s former communications director Abusalah echoed the sentiment of Talib on Thanedar’s alleged neglect of his constituents: “I started working as Shri’s Comms Director in his congressional office and quit in May – I can confirm this. During my first few days working for him, I knew I was in for an interesting ride,” Abusalah went on to drag Thanedar as he admitted, “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.” I always reminded him that congressional work & campaign work needed to be separate but he didn’t care.”
Shri was unavailable to the Michigan Chronicle. Patrick Malone, chief of staff and communications director to Thanedar, responded to Abusalah’s comments in a statement to the Michigan Chronicle: “These untrue allegations by a former staffer 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.”
In addition to his more serious accusations Abusalah concluded his series of X posts with a more personal attack. “There’s so much I can say, but what’s important to know is that Shri is all about himself. He’s 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,” Abusalah said.
The contentious atmosphere precludes what will surely be an intense race for the state representative seat for 2024, the 2022 election saw at least nine candidates vying for the seat and with little over a year left for the next election, several potential candidates have already expressed their interest to be the next state representative for the 13th congressional district.
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