El-Sayed accuses Stevens of ‘relitigating’ primary after calls for apology on Israel

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) is firing back on his former primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), after she expected him to apologize over his comments on Israel just a few days out from the high-stakes Michigan Senate race.

Stevens said would appear alongside El-Sayed for the first time since their August primary this weekend but criticized him over his response to a controversial anti-Israel ad that appeared to link the country to high U.S. grocery prices.

“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,” El-Sayed said in a statement posted to the social platform X.

Support for Israel was a focal point of the widely watched Senate primary, with Stevens backed by millions from pro-Israel lobbying groups.

Since the primary, Stevens has supported El-Sayed and endorsed him immediately after. But Stevens’s fiancé, who is Jewish, recently said he would vote for former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers over El-Sayed.

Stevens reaffirmed that she would support El-Sayed in a CNN interview on Wednesday but said some Michigan voters are “hurt” and “confused” about the ad linking Israel to grocery prices.

She said in a statement on Friday that El-Sayed did not denounce the ad forcefully enough and expected him to apologize.

“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.”

Rogers has courted disaffected Democrats, mainly Jewish voters, as part of his effort to win Michigan in a Democratic-leaning year.

Stevens said she accepted an invitation from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a major leader in the Black and Christian communities, to appear alongside the congressman and El-Sayed in a Detroit church service on Sunday.

The Hill reached out to both Stevens and El-Sayed to see if the joint appearance will continue as planned.