Michigan candidate Abdul el Sayed on Friday urged his supporters to stop “making fun” of his rival in the race for the state’s Democratic Senate nomination, telling progressives to focus on the issues instead.
Democratic voters are choosing between el Sayed, who is backed by socialists, and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a comparatively centrist establishment-backed candidate, in the Aug. 4 primary. Ahead of the election, el Sayed admonished his followers, telling them to lay off Stevens, whose behavior is often mocked on social media.
“It’s become impossible to ignore the way that people online make fun of my opponent for things that have nothing to do with her policies or politics,” el Sayed wrote in a post to X. “It’s unkind and unhelpful. If you support me, please stop … We don’t need to be unkind to be honest.”
“Focus on the issues: Congresswoman Stevens has welcomed corporations and special interests to support her,” he continued. “She votes to send our money abroad while Michiganders struggle. She’s bought by DTE, Blue Cross, Big Tech, and Big Pharma who pick our pockets. AIPAC, Trump-aligned billionaires, and corporate PACs are spending $50,000,000+ to support her. “
El Sayed has been polling well against Stevens in the race to win the Democratic primary and succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). The winner of the August election is on track to face former Rep. Mike Rogers in November.
El Sayed holds a range of left-wing or socialist positions, including backing abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, instituting Medicare for All, and raising taxes on wealthier individuals, such as raising the top marginal tax rate on earnings over $1 million, taxing capital gains and inheritances over $1 million as ordinary income, implementing a “billionaire tax” on wealth over $1 billion, and putting a progressive tax on wealth held by trusts.
The candidate has supported aspects of the defund the police and prison abolitionist movements in the past, though he has walked such positions back on the campaign trail.
ABDUL EL SAYED VOWS TO TAKE ON SCHUMER AS LEFT-WING CANDIDATES GAIN MOMENTUM
On foreign policy, el Sayed has condemned the war in Iran and declined to endorse the assassination of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad” about his death, according to audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
El Sayed believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in its war against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists, and backs pulling U.S. aid from Israel. That position sets him apart from Stevens, who recently sided with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in opposing a progressive-backed amendment that would have ended all defensive funding aid to Israel. El Sayed has attracted controversy for repeatedly campaigning with Twitch political streamer Hasan Piker, due to his antisemitic views, including comments in April that he “would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.”