El-Sayed Campaign Asks Stevens to Stay Away From Final Events

Abdul El-Sayed's campaign is asking Representative Haley Stevens to avoid the final campaign events in Michigan's U.S. Senate race. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the request to HuffPost, noting that the development follows a week of public friction between the two Democrats. Politico first reported that the campaign sought to limit Stevens' role in the closing days.

The dispute intensified on Friday. Stevens posted a lengthy social media update explaining why she would attend a church event with El-Sayed and former Representative Jim Clyburn that Sunday. Clyburn had supported Stevens in the primary. In her post, Stevens called Clyburn a "dear friend and mentor." She stated plainly that "Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed will join us."

Stevens also used the post to criticize El-Sayed's messaging. She argued that he unfairly linked Israel to rising costs for Michigan families. This criticism focused on a controversial grocery store ad produced by Rebellion PAC. The ad depicted a couple debating whether they could afford items after noting U.S. taxpayer spending on Israel. El-Sayed's campaign told The New York Times on Monday that he was "not affiliated in any way" with the group that created the ad.

Stevens demanded an apology for those statements. She also asked El-Sayed to remove a campaign video featuring conservative commentators. One clip included former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who said he would not "vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint." Stevens, who described Carlson as a "white Christian nationalist," urged El-Sayed to take down the advertisement out of respect for the Black community.

The situation had seemed resolved earlier in the week. Stevens and El-Sayed agreed to appear together at a church event on Sunday. They had not been seen together since early August. The plan emerged after Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish, told the Detroit News on Wednesday that he had never seen a Senate candidate act so "recklessly toward the safety of Jews." Turkish said he would vote for Republican challenger Mike Rogers.

However, an El-Sayed campaign advisory issued on Friday afternoon listed Clyburn for the Sunday event but did not mention Stevens. On TMZ, Turkish said Stevens would attend because Clyburn asked her to. He added that her support for El-Sayed might wane if no apology followed. He compared El-Sayed's handling of party unity to streamer Hasan Piker's uncle, Cenk Uygur, who founded Rebellion PAC.

El-Sayed released a statement on Friday admonishing Stevens for "relitigating" a primary that ended three months ago. He noted that his campaign defeated $70 million in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC that supported Stevens. He urged voters to focus on defeating Rogers and holding President Trump accountable. He concluded by saying the priority should be "beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All."