Dorothy

“While politicians and pundits try to make this race about a Twitch streamer, we’re going to be talking about gas, groceries, good schools, and healthcare,” he said. “Because that’s what Michiganders keep asking about. It’s why I’m fighting to get money out of politics, money in your pocket, and Medicare for All.”

Piker, like many in the “infotainment sphere,” has a long history of inflammatory, provocative, and outright offensive comments. He’s previously suggested that the United States deserved the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, comments he’s now apologized for, and claimed that Hamas is operating from a moral high ground in attacking Israel, a position he’s maintained.

Rogers has capitalized on the rift among Democrats over Piker, attempting to appeal to voters who think el Sayed should completely disavow Piker. Rogers said in a statement that el Sayed “doesn’t have the guts to disavow his running mate,” referring to Piker. He also made a pitch to Moss directly on X.

“If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all. We’re waiting, Abdul …” Rogers said, calling Piker the candidate’s “running mate”.

"Getting rid of Sharia law is White supremacy?" Watters said to El-Sayed, bringing up past comments from the Michigan candidate opposing a ban on Sharia law and comparing those efforts to White supremacy. "Can you explain that one?"

The comparison quickly drew pushback online. Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” argued on social media that canon law is confined to church affairs and carries no civil force, while Sharia, in his telling, is far more comprehensive and has historically shaped state governance in Muslim-majority countries. Conservative commentator Pamela Geller made a similar distinction, writing that canon law applies only to Catholics and carries no compulsion, unlike Sharia. Commentators Michael Knowles, Dana Loesch and GOP communications strategist Matt Whitlock also weighed in, with Whitlock calling it a “strange prepared defense” that opened Mr. El-Sayed up to further scrutiny rather than deflecting it.

“So, canon law is the name for Christian law,” he said. “I don’t begrudge you your right to practice your faith as you choose. I don’t know why the idea that I could practice my faith as I choose is a problem. Nobody is trying to push Sharia law on anyone else. Just like I hope, nobody is trying to push canon law on anybody else, because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of your religion.”

The exchange follows renewed attention to a 2009 interview Mr. El-Sayed gave to The New York Times, in which he discussed seeking a Sharia-compliant mortgage as a 24-year-old medical student buying a condominium in Ann Arbor. He told the Times he felt religiously “obligated” to follow Sharia-compliant practices, saying he didn’t want to have “done it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way” — “not because of fear but because of obligation.” Campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner has said “Abdul believes in the separation of church and state,” and that while he personally lives by his faith, he opposes any effort by any religious community to write its laws into U.S. law.

"So you think it’s okay for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off?" Watters asked El-Sayed.

Watters answered in the affirmative and called it a “personal question.” “It’s a problem that you think that you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor and a patient,” El-Sayed said. “I’m just saying that yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid’s ding-a-ling. So if you really want to bring that up, you can. I just think you guys are really selective about these things.”

"It’s a problem that you think you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor and a patient," El-Sayed went on. "I’m just saying that, yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid’s ding-a-ling."

On X, Watters claimed the remark was evidence that El-Sayed was throwing “HIS SUPPORT BEHIND SEX-CHANGE SURGERIES FOR MINORS,” prompting many in the GOP to take aim at the Democrat on social media.

Watters: “That’s wacky. Abdul, Michigan’s not going for that. That is sick stuff.”