JD Vance Called Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed ‘Evil’ in Speech
New York Times · LC · trust 38/100
The vice president also told Dr. El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, to “keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.”
Listen · 5:48 min Share full article Vice President JD Vance’s remarks at a campaign rally on Monday appeared aimed at stoking tensions in Michigan’s Jewish community over Dr. El-Sayed’s nomination. Credit... Paul Sancya/Associated Press By Bayliss Wagner
“I realize that there’s something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today,” Mr. Vance said at the event at a warehouse in Sterling Heights hosted by MAGA Inc., President Trump’s super PAC.
Mr. Vance was in Michigan campaigning for former Representative Mike Rogers, Dr. El-Sayed’s Republican opponent in one of the nation’s most hotly contested Senate races this fall. The vice president’s remarks appeared aimed at stoking tensions between Dr. El-Sayed and Michigan’s Jewish community, which the Democrat has been attempting to allay since winning his party’s bitter primary against a pro-Israel opponent in early August.
Over the weekend, Dr. El-Sayed, who is Muslim, met with members of the Jewish Democratic Caucus to apologize for a remark he made in March after an assailant drove a truck into a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. The candidate said he regretted saying that “hurt people hurt people,” a comment that some interpreted as too sympathetic to the perpetrator, whose deeds were described by authorities as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” The man, 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, died in the incident.
Mr. Vance’s comments appeared to reflect a strategy of trying to harm Dr. El-Sayed’s standing among Jewish voters. The vice president’s one-day trip to Michigan also illustrated the stakes in the race, which many Republicans view as must-win if they are to retain control of the Senate.
In his remarks, Mr. Vance praised the rabbi of Temple Israel, the synagogue where the attack occurred, as well as a guard who was injured in a firefight with the attacker. He met with them backstage before the event, a spokesperson for Mr. Vance said.
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