Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), in a lengthy statement on Friday morning, conditioned her support for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on his willingness to condemn an antisemitic ad from one of his allies blaming Israel for the price of groceries. The ad was produced by Cenk Uygur, an El-Sayed supporter and the uncle of Hasan Piker.

In her statement, Stevens also said El-Sayed’s attempt to distance himself from the ad without condemning its substance was insufficient — and added that he needs to apologize for the ways his own rhetoric throughout the campaign has followed the same arguments from the ad.

But Stevens also indicated that El-Sayed intends to condemn the ad in the runup to a planned Sunday appearance with the Democratic Senate nominee and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC). The event would mark the first time Stevens and El-Sayed appeared together since the immediate aftermath of the August primary, which she narrowly lost. 

Stevens’ statement also follows an interview Wednesday in which she called on El-Sayed to explicitly condemn the content of the Rebellion PAC ad, as well as take down an ad from his campaign featuring Tucker Carlson, and following Stevens’ fiancé announcing he plans to vote for Republican Mike Rogers.

It was not immediately clear what Stevens plans to do if El-Sayed does not follow through, and her office did not respond to a request for comment, though her statement affirmed that she intends to appear alongside Clyburn on Sunday

“I have learned from Democratic Party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media, that Dr. El-Sayed has heard the deep concerns of the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in this campaign, formally condemning that ad for what it is,” Stevens said. “That is why I accepted Congressman Clyburn’s invitation to appear with Abdul on Sunday. I urge voters and the press to confirm it with Abdul directly.”

El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stevens, in more blunt language than she used earlier this week, said that El-Sayed’s comment that he was not affiliated with the ad was insufficient. “A disclaimer is not a condemnation, and everyone in my community knows the difference,” she said.

“But the ad did not invent its argument; it dramatized one Dr. El-Sayed has made in his own words throughout this campaign: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care, and child care,” she continued. “The standard here is simple. If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start. I therefore expect him to apologize for those statements as well.”

She said that El-Sayed needs to “begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”

And she said it is her “hope and expectation” that El-Sayed will take down a campaign ad featuring Tucker Carlson out of “respect for Michigan’s Black community,” calling the advertisement “an insult to the congregation that will welcome us on Sunday.”

Throughout the statement, Stevens repeatedly praised Clyburn, crediting him with brokering the joint church appearance with her and El-Sayed. She said that she’s “honored to go to church” with Clyburn.

“On Sunday he will stand in a Black church in Detroit for the party he has served his whole life, and I will be standing there with him,” she said.

Rogers subsequently posted on X, “Condemn the ad, Abdul.”