Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign asked Rep. Haley Stevens to skip all events after an Israel PAC ad fight, undercutting party unity days before voters decide.
With Michigan’s open Senate seat days from a decision, the Democratic side is trading jabs instead of closing ranks. Daily Caller reporting detailed a fresh split between nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, his former primary rival, after an ad fight tied to Israel and Jewish voters.
POLITICO, citing people familiar with the decision, reported Friday that El-Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to avoid all campaign events ahead of the election. The request landed while both camps were already sparring over a Rebellion PAC ad and what it said about Jews and the economy.
That is not how a party projects confidence in a statewide finish. It is how a coalition shows strain when Israel, outside money, and old primary wounds all surface at once.
Rebellion PAC, a left-wing committee created by The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur, released the ad at the center of the clash. In it, a woman said she could not buy eggs because she had to set aside tax money for “killing Palestinians.”
Stevens framed the spot as blaming Jews for America’s economic troubles and tied it to “Hasan Piker’s uncle.” El-Sayed’s camp denied affiliation with the ad. The argument did not stay private.
Stevens used a Friday morning post on X to cast El-Sayed’s reported disavowal as a unifying moment, and to announce she still planned to stand with him in public.
She wrote:
"On the eve of the eve of the eve of our BIG and important election, a unifying moment has arrived, our democratic nominee for U.S Senate disavows the Rebellion PAC ad made by Hasan Piker’s uncle that claims Jews are responsible for America’s economic woes. We have learned from party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media that he has. On Sunday I will join with the Great Democratic leader, Jim Clyburn and Dr El Sayed for a church service in the beautiful city of Detroit. The political coalition of Black and Jewish voices that have carried Michigan and this country through so many storms to the righteous path of liberal democracy and equal opportunity for all will ring out. Full statement here:"
Hours later, El-Sayed answered without dwelling on the Jewish-community concern Stevens had put on the table. He pointed to kitchen-table prices and to the outside money spent against him in the primary, including AIPAC.
El-Sayed said:
"Our campaign is and has always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing: Skyrocketing gas prices, unaffordable groceries, and the inability to see a doctor. That focus is why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens."
Voters can read that exchange for themselves. One side asked for a clear break with an ad it called hostile to Jews. The other side changed the subject to gas, groceries, doctors, and a $70 million spending fight.
Republican nominee Mike Rogers did not stay quiet. In a Friday night post, he praised Stevens’s conduct after the August primary and said she was right to demand a denunciation of the Rebellion PAC ad and an apology for the ideology behind it.
Rogers also argued that El-Sayed’s reply showed indifference to Jewish concerns Stevens had raised. He quoted her line that Jewish and African-American communities deserve leaders who show up for them rather than fight over them, and said his campaign intends to do exactly that.
Rogers posted:
"Representative Haley Stevens is a courageous leader who deserves the respect of every Michigan voter. She has conducted herself with nothing but class since the Democratic primary, a primary where a majority of voters did not vote for her party’s nominee. She was absolutely right to call on Abdul El-Sayed to denounce the Rebellion PAC ad and she was right to call on him to apologize for espousing the same hateful ideology behind it. Representative Stevens’ statement expressed a hope that Abdul El-Sayed “had heard the deep concerns of the Jewish Community.” It is as shameful as it is disappointing that his response to her clearly shows that he does not care about those concerns. In her statement, the Congresswoman says, “ the Jewish and African-American communities of my district deserve to have someone show up for them, rather than fight over them.” I agree with her and my campaign is about being there, showing up and defending these communities and all Michiganders."
Rogers’s message had a political edge, and it also had a simple test: when pressed on an ad that dragged Jews into an eggs-and-taxes complaint about Israel, did the Democratic nominee meet the concern head-on?
His campaign has already pressed El-Sayed on loyalty and group ties in debate settings, and this latest exchange fits the same accountability theme.
President Donald Trump took the argument to a Friday rally in Daytona, Florida. He told the crowd that if you are Black or Jewish and you vote for Abdul, you are not smart.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opened a separate lane the same morning. In a lengthy X post, he returned to El-Sayed’s Oct. 1 disavowal of the Muslim Brotherhood and called it a disavowal in name only.
Kennedy wrote that El-Sayed, under persistent questioning before national cameras, finally said, “Sure. Yeah, absolutely,” then spent five minutes attacking the questioner’s motives. Kennedy said El-Sayed named nothing and condemned nothing about the Brotherhood, its ideology, or front groups.
Kennedy’s excerpt put the issue this way:
"Under persistent badgering before national news cameras, Al-Sayed finally caved: ‘Sure. Yeah, absolutely!’ he said unconvincingly. He then spent five minutes attacking the man’s motives. El-Sayed said nothing about the Brotherhood itself, its ideology, or the Muslim Brotherhood front organizations he works with. A disavowal that names nothing and condemns nothing is a disavowal in name only."
Those critiques land on top of a campaign already dealing with controversy over Hasan Piker ties and other association fights that refuse to stay in the primary rearview mirror.
Stevens still spoke of a Sunday church service in Detroit with Jim Clyburn and El-Sayed, and of Black and Jewish voices holding a common line. Her public schedule talk sat beside the separate POLITICO report that El-Sayed’s campaign wanted her away from events.
That contradiction is the story. A party messenger is useful on a church stage and inconvenient on the trail at the same time.
National Democrats have already seen leadership pushback on Israel positioning in this lane, including moments when Pelosi said El-Sayed does not speak for Democrats on those stances.
El-Sayed’s own record has invited similar scrutiny on policy consistency, from shifting Green New Deal messaging to older comments that later required explanation.
Jewish voters listening to this cycle also have reason to remember prior flashpoints, including resurfaced audio on a Michigan synagogue attack, when measuring how firmly a candidate draws moral lines.
As of Saturday, FiftyPlusOne’s polling average showed El-Sayed leading Rogers by five points. A lead is not a coalition.
Rogers reminded voters that a majority did not back the eventual Democratic nominee in the August primary. Stevens lost that nomination fight, then watched a left-wing PAC ad reopen Israel and Jewish concerns in the general-election window.
El-Sayed’s answer leaned on affordability and on having beaten heavy outside spending. He did not use that moment to walk through the ad’s language, the offense Stevens described, or the apology Rogers demanded.
The Daily Caller News Foundation sought comment from Stevens’s office and from the El-Sayed and Rogers campaigns. None responded immediately.
So the public record, for now, is the request to sideline Stevens, the dueling posts, the Rebellion PAC spot, Trump’s rally line, Kennedy’s Brotherhood critique, and a five-point average lead.
Michigan voters can decide whether a campaign that asks a former rival to stay home while an Israel ad fight burns is ready to hold a broad coalition, or only to manage one.
Parties that cannot police their own message on Jews, Israel, and outside agitprop should not expect working families to ignore the disorder at the finish line.
