El-Sayed on Vance ‘evil’ remark: ‘What’s evil is corrupting yourself’

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Monday shot back at Vice President Vance’s comment about him being “very, very evil.”

Earlier Monday, Vice President Vance went after El-Sayed at a rally in Detroit, calling him “evil.”

“There’s something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today,” Vance said.

In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Monday night, El-Sayed responded to Vance’s comments by seemingly taking a dig at the latter’s political shift toward President Trump in the last decade.

“Well, let me tell you what’s evil,” El-Sayed said when Collins asked about Vance’s remarks. “Evil is the idea of starting wars when there’s peace. Evil is the idea of stripping away people’s healthcare when they absolutely have no other option. What’s evil is to do that, so that you can pass a tax cut for billionaires.”

“What’s evil is putting a data center that people don’t want in their backyard, to spite them. What’s evil is corrupting yourself because you want a little bit more power,” he added.

El-Sayed supports policies like the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), drawing down U.S. financial support for Israel and Medicare for All. He won his primary earlier this month amid a wave of progressive candidates that notched primary wins in races against establishment figures.

El-Sayed is facing off against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) for Sen. Gary Peters’s (D-Mich.) seat in November in a key battleground state that former President Joe Biden won in 2020 and President Trump won in 2024. However, Rogers may be facing an uphill political battle as issues like the Iran war, concerns about the economy and Trump’s slumping approval numbers dog the GOP.