Michigan Senate Candidate El-Sayed Faces Backlash Over Second Lady's Legal Action
-
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed faces blowback for bringing up second lady Usha Vance to go after Vice President JD Vance. Republicans say it could bounce back and hurt with with women voters and Indian-Americans in Michigan. Getty Images
Compare 1 other version
Fox NewsIn a post over the weekend, responding to Vice President JD Vance’s comments that his grandfather, whom he called Pawpaw, would be shocked to know that El-Sayed is a serious US Senate contender, the socialist-aligned candidate from Michigan responded by invoking Second Lady Usha Vance, who is of Indian descent.
-
El-Sayed further distanced himself from Piker Monday after Piker argued on his Twitch show that rhetoric linking American Jews closely to Israel could ultimately provoke attacks against American Jews — comments critics condemned as antisemitic victim-blaming.
Compare 3 other versions
The AtlanticWhen Democrats dismiss the controversy over Piker and the movement he stands for, they are treating the growing influence of left-wing anti-Semitism as unworthy of concern—or, worse still, a fait accompli. The Democrats imploring El-Sayed to renounce Piker want more than a generalized promise to safeguard Jewish safety, or a statement that “nobody” speaks for the candidate. They are seeking some assurance from El-Sayed that he will speak out in opposition to attacks against Jews by his own supporters.
New York PostThe Post reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment. The Usha flap comes as El-Sayed is trying to insulate himself against critics from within his own party demanding he end his association with Hasan Piker, who is accused of antisemitism and said “America deserved 9/11.” He appeared with Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a prominent Jewish House member, and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich) in Ann Arbor Thursday.
BreitbartEl-Sayed responded, “To be anti-Israel is not the same as to be anti-Jewish, and to oppose what Israel has done is not an indictment on Jewish people. I think we have a responsibility to stand up and remind folks that Judaism and the Jewish people are a light unto the world, that my commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to my own daughter’s safety. I know what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray, but I do reject the idea that, somehow, criticizing Israel and Israel’s actions and a genocide that was perpetrated by our tax dollars is the same as the idea of rejecting anybody for their faith or their identity. We have to be able to separate the two. I’m looking forward to the event.
-
Michigan’s leftist U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed (D) responded to Nessel’s decision not to attend the convention, Breitbart News reported August 5.
Compare 1 other version
New York PostAbdul El-Sayed, Democratic nominee for the US Senate, speaks to the press with Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI) at a campaign rally on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on August 26. Anadolu via Getty Images
-
Democrats have good reason to say this. El-Sayed is running a close race to hold a seat that Democrats probably need to retain to win control of the Senate in the midterm elections.
Compare 1 other version
New York PostEl-Sayed faces former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in an open-seat contest critical to Democrats' chances of retaking the Senate. AFP via Getty Images
-
Sewell isn't a fan of the company El-Sayed keeps, either. He slammed El-Sayed for campaigning with socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who said in 2019 that "America deserved 9/11." Piker has also praised Mao Zedong and Communist China, and said capitalists should be murdered in the streets and spewed a litany of antisemitic comments.
Compare 1 other version
The AtlanticBut the truth is that Piker, and the uncomfortable questions raised by his alliance with El-Sayed, is one of the important questions at stake in the election. If Piker were just an internet pundit, his rant—the latest entry in a long list of outrageous comments he has made—would be of little consequence to the Democratic Party. Piker has said that “America deserved 9/11,” praised Mao Zedong as “one of the great leaders of this world,” and mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union as “one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century.” His ideology is profoundly authoritarian. But several left-wing Democrats, especially El-Sayed, have campaigned with Piker and elevated him into one of their most prominent surrogates.
-
On Friday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “The Moment,” Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed responded to a question on why he won’t fully disassociate with Hasan Piker by declaring that “this campaign is not about a streamer in California.”
Compare 2 other versions
The AtlanticMost Democrats followed El-Sayed’s line that Piker was irrelevant. “This election is about what’s going to happen when we elect Abdul to the United States Senate. I am done, so don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker. It’s not what November is about,” Representative Debbie Dingell said at a rally for El-Sayed.
New York TimesEl-Sayed Apologizes for March Comment About Michigan Synagogue Attack Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, faced criticism from Jewish Democrats after remarking, “hurt people hurt people.”
-
El-Sayed answered, “So, let me speak to a couple of points here: Number one, I endorsed the vice president on the day after she became the nominee. I did not agree with the administration’s position on Gaza, but I understood that Donald Trump would be worse. So, I am calling on leaders from all of the communities under the Democratic umbrella to recognize that Mike Rogers is an existential threat to everything we believe in when it comes to our democracy. Number two, this campaign is not about a streamer in California. This campaign is about affordability in Michigan. This campaign is about the ability to have healthcare.”
4 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
-
01 New York Post The unprovoked jab at the second lady exposed El-Sayed’s own insecurities said one GOP insider, who accused the anti-Israel Democrat of victimizing women to look tough when he snidely posted to X: “So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no …”
-
02 Fox News DETROIT — A Black Christian pastor who went viral online for clashing with the city council in the nearby majority-Arab city of Dearborn issued a stark warning about Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
-
03 Breitbart Some Jewish Democrats in Michigan are concerned about safety as a state official has decided not to attend a major gathering on Saturday due to radicals within the party who have criticized U.S. support for Israel.
-
04 The Atlantic So El-Sayed’s alliance with Piker has become a political and moral crisis.
Fact Corroboration
Which sources independently confirm the same facts. Hover a claim to see its sources, or a source to see what it corroborates.
Coverage by Perspective
Source Similarity
Connections show how similarly each outlet covered this story. Thicker lines = more similar framing.
Sources (5)
- nyt
- nypost
- breitbart
- foxnews
- atlantic