Advisor to Clyburn says El-Sayed can’t disinvite Stevens from unity event

An advisor to Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) cannot disinvite his former primary opponent Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) from a scheduled event on Sunday in Detroit, Mich.

“This is not Abdul’s event,” Antjuan Seawright, an advisor to Clyburn, told The New York Times Saturday afternoon. “The invitation still stands.”

El-Sayed was originally scheduled to appear at a church in Detroit alongside Stevens and Clyburn, but he asked his former primary opponent to stay away from his campaign events and disinvited her from Sunday’s event.

The relationship between El-Sayed and Stevens has grown tense in the past few days. The tension stemmed from a political ad supporting El-Sayed’s campaign that appeared to blame Israel and Jews for rising costs of living.

Stevens released a statement saying the Democratic Senate nominee did not condemn the ad forcefully enough.

“The ad did not invent its argument; it dramatized one Dr. El-Sayed has made in his own words throughout this campaign: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, healthcare, and child care,” Stevens said. “I therefore expect him to apologize for those statements as well.”

El-Sayed fired back in a statement posted to the social platform X, saying, “so while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics.”

Recently, Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish said he would not support El-Sayed in the upcoming elections and accused the Democrat of using antisemitic language on the campaign trail. But Stevens reaffirmed that she would continue to back the Democratic Senate candidate.

Israel has been the center of attention in the days leading up to the midterm elections where El-Sayed has maintained a critical stance throughout.

The Senate race between El-Sayed and his GOP opponent Mike Rogers has been intense with a recent CNN poll showing 49 percent of respondents leaning toward the Democrat and 42 percent toward the Republican. Nonpartisan election forecaster Decision Desk HQ leans heavily in favor of El-Sayed, giving him a 74 percent chance of winning.