I’ve long been blocked so can’t post the video, but I share the sentiment that this was one of the most impactful moments for me on the Abdul Campaign. DEEP campaign lore: I was one of the few people to be invited by the Bay Mills Tribe, to join Abdul in the sweat lodge. This invite came unexpectedly, and involved me coordinating for it to happen, given I was the head operations person in the field. Once there and after preparing, the elder tells us the order of entry and seating, with the final person being designated the leader and sitting next to him. While doing this he asks who is the leader. Abdul walks forward, but the elder then points at me. As a confident, but quiet grey man personality type, this surprised me. I then looked to Abdul in an effort to show the elder that Abdul is the leader. The elder doesn’t speak on an adjustment, and I noticed the disapproval on Abdul’s face. This entire interaction was noticed by other staff, and would be the part of jokes later in that day. We then moved forward with the ceremony in the sweat lodge. As I enter second to elder, I start mentally preparing comments I would speak on, as I’m not the public speaker, and I wanted to be prepared. I prepared mentally to talk about my role in the Marines, and how I do inherent the legacy of the genocide of the indigenous communities. How indigenous communities and black American descendants of slaves share stories. Broadly how we can acknowledge the past and but move towards a better future. When the time came however, the elder said the leader will speak now. Abdul and I both pause in this pitch black, hot, quiet space with the drumming having gone quiet for the speaker. I am in the leaders seat, but instead of speaking I nudge Abdul. I do so in order to redeem taking what I assumed was his seat next to elder, and to not overstep on his ability to connect with community. Looking back, I was the leader, and should’ve spoken up. Though I don’t understand, or believe in the spirituality of the many indigenous communities, looking back it’s hard to say that the Elder didn’t see something. Since that experience last summer, we’ve all seen the type of race Abdul has run, with some getting to truly see the type of person he is. To this day as the campaign staffer with the most one on one time with him, I had a front row seat to see the type person he is. I’ve spent years silently protecting Abdul’s physical safety - reputation - potentially even marriage (given his comments on an invitation from someone not his wife). I’ve spent months doing my best to silently protect other staff from Abdul (calling DC leadership telling them about abuse). Now I do what little I can to try to protect the public from Abdul (giving details of my experiences and opinions to anyone interested).

THAT'S A DIVISIONAL DUB ‼️ #PhinsUp