RECENT NEWS

DOUBLING DOWN

El-Sayed rejects Haley Stevens’ calls for apology over antisemitic ads

Stevens had conditioned a joint appearance on Sunday with El-Sayed on whether he would speak out against antisemitism tied to his campaign

Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed arrives to a press conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on August 05, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Friday rejected an appeal from Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) for him to publicly condemn an antisemitic ad in support of his campaign, which Stevens had made a condition of appearing at a joint event on Sunday.

Instead, El-Sayed attacked Stevens, his former Democratic primary opponent, days before the general election.

Stevens said in a statement Friday that she had been told that El-Sayed planned to condemn the Rebellion PAC ad, which blamed support of Israel on higher food prices. She also asked him to apologize for his own rhetoric on Israel and take down a campaign ad featuring Tucker Carlson, after having warned that he was alienating undecided Jewish and Black voters.

El-Sayed rejected those requests, and sounded a defiant note against the Democratic lawmaker, who endorsed him immediately after the primary and maintained as of Wednesday that she still planned to vote for him.  

“While Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All,” he said.

The campaign added that El-Sayed has “always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing” which is “why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens.”

The campaign statement echoes El-Sayed’s own responses throughout the week to Stevens, her fiancé and other voters Stevens said are concerned about his rhetoric, arguing that anyone not supporting him isn’t focused on the issues that matter.

Stevens did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether she still intends to attend the event on Sunday.

Subscribe now to
the Daily Kickoff

The politics and business news you need to stay up to date, delivered each morning in a must-read newsletter.