The Democratic Party’s reaction to Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and her concerns about Senate nominee Abdul el Sayed has made it clear that, regardless of whether el Sayed wins, the Democratic Party is now the party of Islamist hate and bigotry.
Stevens chose to endorse Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers against el Sayed, withdrawing her previous endorsement of el Sayed after he refused to condemn the antisemitic advertisement posted by his ideological ally, Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks. This tracks with el Sayed’s conduct throughout the election, including campaigning alongside antisemitic terrorist sympathizer (and Uygur’s nephew) Hasan Piker, campaigning for votes at antisemitic mosques, and excusing an attempted Islamist terrorist attack against Jewish preschoolers in Michigan.
HALEY STEVENS ON ABDUL EL SAYED SPLIT: ‘THIS IS A BROADER POINT ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR PARTY’
El Sayed’s track record makes him obviously unfit for any office, much less the U.S. Senate. Stevens’s only mistake was taking this long to realize that he was, in fact, an antisemitic terrorist sympathizer. Democrats could have (and should have) agreed with Stevens going back to the primary. They could even have chosen to ignore Stevens’s decision, which came so late in the cycle that it may have no impact, especially given the favorable political environment that already puts multiple Senate seats in play for Democrats.
Instead, Democrats have chosen to excommunicate Stevens entirely. The chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party announced that “Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called it a “despicable betrayal” and tied Stevens to the “racist, Islamophobic, and over-the-top false attacks on Abdul by Republicans.” Her fellow Michigan Democrats, Mallory McMorrow and Debbie Dingell, suggested that Stevens was being manipulated by her (Jewish) fiance.
IN FOCUS: OF COURSE EL SAYED IS ON THE SIDE OF THE TERRORISTS
This is not merely anger that a Democrat is endorsing a Republican. This is a full-on meltdown centered on personally tearing down Stevens, trashing her character, and suggesting she is incapable of thinking for herself because she does not want a man who hates Jews to be given the power of a U.S. Senate seat. As Schumer said, even acknowledging that el Sayed is an antisemitic terrorist sympathizer is “racist” and “Islamophobic.”
This is not a matter of “vote blue, no matter who” taken to its most extreme. After all, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) was not excommunicated for refusing to back Kamala Harris against Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Instead, this is an enthusiastic defense of el Sayed and his antisemitic, terrorist-sympathizing worldview. The Democratic Party has fully embraced el Sayed, choosing to chase the Islamist and antisemitic bigots who support him and promising to cast out anyone like Stevens who objects to this development.