Top Dems brush off ties to Imam who held memorial for Iranian leader who vowed ‘Death to America’

FIRST ON FOX: Legacy Democrats and a slew of Michigan Democratic Party lawmakers dismissed concerns over their connections to a radical Imam who eulogized the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei by “the most wretched hands on Earth” and works at a mosque known for being a purveyor of Iranian propaganda. 

Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi’s social media pages were a who’s who of Michigan Democratic Party politicos and also included a slew of photos of him with legacy Democrats and Democratic Party officials from other states, before they were deleted. The photos, many of which come from various political and religious-oriented events, were removed from the Imam’s social media after Fox News Digital reached out to him and his Michigan-based Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW). 

However, screenshots retained by Fox News Digital and other photos that remain publicly available on the Imam’s social media sites show him posing alongside legacy Democrats like former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Other Democrats the Imam was pictured with on his social media pages included current candidates for office in Michigan and some of the state’s highest-ranking leaders, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose 2023 inauguration included a Muslim prayer tribute from Ali Elahi, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. One post on his socials included a flyer highlighting an event the IHW helped sponsor that was headlined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, while others included photos of the Imam interacting with out-of-state Democrats, such as Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

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In addition to the public photos of Ali Elahi, with a slew of various Democrats, he has also donated to several of these same lawmakers as well, including candidates running for office this year in his state of Michigan, according to Michigan’s campaign finance database. Current Michigan U.S. Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, featured in at least one of the Imam’s photos, received over $800 from him in 2017. Gilchrest, pictured numerous times with the Imam on his social media pages, received over $1,000. 

Meanwhile, Mike Duggan, the former Mayor of Detroit now running an Independent bid for governor who is seen eating dinner with the Imam, received $500, according to state records. Ali Elahi has also, for years, made many small-dollar donations through Act Blue to various Democrats and Democrat institutions.

“The unwillingness of public officials to distance themselves from someone so controversial would be troubling enough under normal circumstances, but doubly so during a time of conflict when Americans’ lives hang in the balance and voters expect their leaders to rally around the flag,” said GOP strategist Colin Reed. “For nearly 40 years, the leaders of the Iranian regime have pushed ‘death to America’ and exported terror around the world. It shouldn’t be a close call to want to put daylight between someone so sympathetic to their cause.”

When asked, following Ali Elahi and IHW’s Khamenei tribute, if any of the Democratic Party figures regretted attending events alongside the Iranian-born Imam living in Michigan, or whether they planned to reconsider interactions with him going forward, those Democrats seen with him in photos at various events either did not respond or downplayed their ties to the Imam. A staffer for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson initially got in touch after Fox News Digital reached out, but then ignored Fox News Digital’s inquiries after they were told the story was not only about Benson.    

Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month, has repeatedly attacked the United States and Israel on social media, including saying, “Death to America.”

“Yes, it will happen. Death to America will happen,” Khamenei declared in 2022, the Middle East Media Research Institute reported at the time. “Some people say: By chanting ‘Death to America,’ you bring America’s animosity upon yourself. I say that this is not true. When America began its hostility towards Iran, nobody had been chanting ‘Death to America.’”

“Senator Peters routinely attends events with his constituents across Michigan. Peters has long said that Iran and its leaders, like Ayatollah Khamenei, are bad actors, and he strongly believes that we must ensure Iran never has nuclear weapons,” a spokesperson for the Michigan senator said.

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“Georgians are concerned about an illegal war that’s costing taxpayers $1 billion a day and spiking gas prices,” a Warnock spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The Senator believes Ayatollah Khamenei was a brutal dictator, and this President should be focused on problems at home instead of entangling our country and service members in another endless war.”

“It was 60 seconds of social niceties at a funeral. Shaking someone’s hand isn’t a connection or an endorsement,” said a Clinton spokesperson. “They don’t know each other.”

“The press corps often sprints after Republicans in office to ask them about why someone took a picture with them and how quickly will they distance themselves from that individual, but that same level of scrutiny is not remotely applied to Democrats,” lamented Republican strategist Mark Bednar. “For the good of the country, elected Democrats and candidates must explain to their constituents and to the media where exactly do they stand regarding cheerleaders of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”

Duggan, who initially told local Michigan news outlet, The Michigan Enjoyer, that he “had no recollection” of photos they shared of him with the Imam, told Fox News Digital that the candidate for governor did not know Ali Elahi personally when asked if he planned to reconsider interacting with him in the future. Fox News Digital uncovered multiple photos of Duggan attending events alongside Ali Elahi that were on the Imam’s Facebook page, including one where the two are seen embracing each other. 

“In his 12-year tenure, Mayor Duggan constantly reached out to congregations of all faiths, visiting 40-50 churches, mosques, and synagogues each year,” a spokesperson for Duggan’s gubernatorial campaign said. “He attended close to 1,000 political events in that time and greeted and took photos with people at each of them. The Mayor does not know Imam Elahi any more than the many others across the political spectrum he encountered over the years.”

As recently as September, Ali Elahi was seen pictured with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. 

The gathering was also attended by the co-founder of the left-wing activist group CODEPINK, which has been accused of having close ties to China, and former U.S. intelligence official and U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, whose house was raided by the FBI for what Ritter himself described as violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The Imam similarly met with Pezeshkian at the U.N. Assembly in 2024, a photo on the Imam’s Facebook and Instagram shows, which also includes a caption praising the regime leader and slamming Israel and the media. Ali Elahi has photos of himself meeting with antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who infamously compared Jews to termites in one of his sermons.

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“The numerous photographs of Elahi with high-level Iranian politicians and religious leaders that he regularly publishes on his social media networks speak to his ties to the Islamic Republic,” a report from George Washington University’s Program on Extremism states. The same report points out that Ali Elahi served as the head of the Iranian Navy’s “political ideological office” in 1982, an allegation the Imam addressed but did not deny in a 2023 speech.     

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have accused Ali Elahi’s mosque of being “a significant purveyor of extremist propaganda, in line with the Iranian regime’s views,” in a 2023 letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling on him to investigate various Iranian regime-backed mosques in the United States. As recently as 2023, Ali Elahi traveled to Iran, sharing photos and video of his trip in 2023 on social media.