Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens have clashed publicly in Michigan ahead of a campaign appearance where the Democratic Senate rivals were expected to share a platform on Sunday.
The dispute comes days before a closely fought Senate race in which Republican nominee Mike Rogers is seeking support from centrist Democratic voters. El-Sayed, a strong critic of US aid to Israel, and the more moderate Stevens presented sharply different views during the primary, although Stevens endorsed him after his victory.
The pair have largely avoided campaigning together since then. In a statement on Friday evening, El-Sayed accused Stevens of being intent on “relitigating a primary that ended three months ago”.
Stevens had earlier demanded an apology from El-Sayed over comments made during the primary, when he said: “Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care, and child care.”
“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens said. “He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”
She also called on El-Sayed to condemn an advert produced by Rebellion PAC, an outside political action committee, which she described as antisemitic. The video shows a couple in a supermarket deciding to return a carton of eggs because they need to set aside 7 dollars “for killing Palestinians”, before criticising the billions of dollars in US military support provided to Israel.
El-Sayed’s campaign said earlier this week that it was not affiliated “in any way” with the advert. “No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign,” it said.
Stevens also urged El-Sayed to withdraw an advert featuring Tucker Carlson, the right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host.
It was unclear whether the dispute would affect Sunday’s planned appearance at a Detroit church, where Stevens said she intended to appear alongside El-Sayed and South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn. An announcement from El-Sayed’s campaign mentioning the event with Clyburn did not refer to Stevens.
The tensions deepened earlier in the week when Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News that he would vote for Rogers. Stevens later said in a CNN interview that she would vote for El-Sayed, describing their position as “a household divided”, while calling on his campaign “to shut out the hate and to call it out”.
