I mean, who could’ve guessed this would go down in flames? Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, El-Sayed’s former primary opponent, were set to meet today. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) reportedly worked hard to bring the two camps together, as Stevens hadn’t been on the trail for El-Sayed until now. This follows Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, announcing he supports Republican Mike Rogers. It highlighted what many are saying about El-Sayed in Michigan: he did a piss-poor job reaching out to black and Jewish voters.
Stevens' condition for appearing at this event, which included Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), was that El-Sayed denounce the virulent, antisemitic ad produced by Rebellion PAC. The viral ad depicts a couple unable to buy groceries because Jewish people exist. It’s disgusting. It’s not an El-Sayed ad, but prominent Democrats like Van Jones have called on El-Sayed to denounce it.
Meanwhile, Stevens and El-Sayed traded shots, with the latter essentially telling Stevens to avoid their events. Meanwhile, Clyburn’s camp says Stevens’ invitation to today’s press conference still stands and that it’s not an El-Sayed event. Within the liberal media landscape, some fire has been directed at Turkish for ruining his future wife’s reputation and career (via NYT):
#MichiganSenate NYT: An adviser to Jim Clyburn says Haley Stevens was still invited at Democratic unity event and rejected any notion that Abdul El-Sayed could pull her invitation. “This is not Abdul’s event,” Mr. Seawright said Saturday afternoon, adding, “The invitation still stands.” https://t.co/u0UpV0p9w6
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) October 31, 2026
What a mess. Clyburn pinning this on El-Sayed.
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) October 31, 2026
Q: Is Haley Stevens trying to rat fuck your campaign? El-Sayed: That is not a question for me https://t.co/wK5tYoigVk
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 31, 2026
“I don’t want any distractions,” Dr. El-Sayed told reporters after a campaign rally in Sterling Heights, Mich., outside Detroit. He added, “It seems as though other folks are more interested in making this race about things that it’s not about.”
Ms. Stevens and Dr. El-Sayed, who have been publicly quarreling for days, were initially expected to attend the Sunday event together, part of an effort by Representatives Debbie Dingell of Michigan and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina to broker a peace between the feuding Democrats on the eve of a critical election.
It was not immediately clear if Ms. Stevens would abide by Dr. El-Sayed’s request that she stay away from the event.
Ms. Stevens, a centrist who lost to the progressive Dr. El-Sayed by less than a percentage point in a bitter August primary, had said late Friday that she had not been told that she was unwelcome at the event. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Mr. Clyburn said Saturday that he had “no idea” if Ms. Stevens would attend. An adviser to Mr. Clyburn, Antjuan Seawright, said Ms. Stevens was still invited, and rejected any notion that Dr. El-Sayed could pull her invitation.
“This is not Abdul’s event,” Mr. Seawright said Saturday afternoon, adding, “The invitation still stands.”
It’s a total s**t show. And all El-Sayed had to do was denounce an ad that was universally slammed for peddling anti-Jewish hate. I think you all know why he couldn't.
I’m in awe at the pettiness and poor judgment in this statement.
— Peter Meijer (@PeterMeijer) October 30, 2026
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