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Vance attacks El-Sayed
US Vice President JD Vance attacked Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over El-Sayed’s past comments on Sharia law during a rally at an Ohio steel plant on Friday, after mispronouncing El-Sayed’s name.
““I’d love to go back in time and tell my papaw that there’s a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have but, if you criticize it, you’re a white supremacist,””
HuffPost quotes Vance saying, “I’d love to go back in time and tell my papaw that there’s a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have but, if you criticize it, you’re a white supremacist,” while Vance framed the remarks as evidence that El-Sayed’s views are rooted in white supremacy.
HuffPost adds that El-Sayed, born in the U.S. to Egyptian immigrants, responded on MS NOW by asking why Vance implied that some people are “more American than others because they can point to their papaw who was here earlier.”
MundoNOW places Vance’s attack in the context of the Michigan contest against ex-Rep. Mike Rogers, saying the race could help determine what party controls the Senate.
MundoNOW also says Vance delivered the attack during a speech at Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works, a steel plant in Ohio, and tied his argument to El-Sayed’s 2022 remarks at a CAIR annual banquet in Oklahoma.
El-Sayed fires back
El-Sayed rebutted Vance by arguing the controversy is about changing the channel away from “rising costs” and other issues Americans discuss, telling MS NOW, “This is about trying to change the channel,” and encouraging Vance to “leave my name and my background out of it.”
HuffPost reports El-Sayed’s “bigger picture” response, saying Vance is attempting to distract from “rising costs and other “issues” Americans discuss at the kitchen table,” while El-Sayed framed the attacks as tied to his Muslim identity.
Al Jazeera reports that El-Sayed told Vance that his identity and religion aren’t causing the Trump administration’s problems, and it quotes him with the line, “Leave my name and background out of it.”
New York Post similarly frames Vance’s argument about the Democratic Party’s working-class roots, quoting Vance saying, “This is the party, the Democrat party of graduate students, rather than the union and nonunion workers who make this facility run,”.
New York Post also quotes El-Sayed’s own language from the CAIR banquet, including his statement that “The reason I wanted to go all the way back to the 1830s is because you can’t understand a Shariah ban without understanding the Trail of Tears,” as the dispute turns on what El-Sayed actually said.
What’s at stake in Michigan
The dispute is now part of a broader Michigan Senate battle, with MundoNOW saying El-Sayed faces the Republican Mike Rogers and that the outcome could help determine what party controls the Senate.
“El-Sayed enfrenta al republicano Mike Rogers en Michigan, en una contienda que podría ayudar a determinar qué partido controla el Senado.”
HuffPost says El-Sayed’s primary win earlier this month sparked a rise in anti-Muslim posts from conservatives, and it adds that he holds a slim lead over Rogers among likely voters in November’s election according to a recent AARP poll.
New York Post reports that El-Sayed’s remarks have drawn criticism from conservatives and Republicans who accuse him of viewing politics through the lens of race and religion, while it also notes that after his primary victory he said, “My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids.”
MundoNOW adds that El-Sayed said he has a responsibility to combat “el antisemitismo en todas sus formas, dondequiera que lo veamos,” positioning the campaign around both religious identity and broader political accountability.
Across the coverage, the core factual dispute centers on El-Sayed’s 2022 CAIR banquet speech in Oklahoma about State Question 755, which MundoNOW says was approved by 70% of voters in 2010 but was ultimately blocked by federal courts.