Latest / GNN Daily Breaking News / El-Sayed wants Democratic rival to stay away
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: The tight race for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat was
- 0:03Speaker 1: thrown into chaos over the weekend after Democratic nominee Dr.
- 0:07Speaker 1: Abdul El-Sayed formally asked his former primary opponent, U.S. Representative
- 0:13Speaker 1: Haley Stevens, to stay away from a joint campaign event
- 0:17Speaker 1: in Detroit. The high-profile disinvitation, executed just 48 hours before
- 0:22Speaker 1: Election Day, rapidly escalated intraparty friction into an unprecedented political
- 0:28Speaker 1: defection when Stevens hours later endorsed Republican nominee Mike Rogers
- 0:33Speaker 1: at a Sunday church service. The rift began when Stevens
- 0:37Speaker 1: publicly demanded that El-Sayed denounce a digital ad campaign released
- 0:41Speaker 1: by Rebellion PAC, an independent progressive political action committee, which
- 0:46Speaker 1: linked high consumer grocery costs and domestic inflation to U.S.
- 0:50Speaker 1: military aid for Israel. Stevens, whose suburban Detroit congressional district
- 0:56Speaker 1: includes a substantial Jewish constituency, asserted that the ad relied
- 1:01Speaker 1: on harmful tropes. El-Sayed clarified that his official campaign had
- 1:05Speaker 1: no affiliation with or control over third-party PAC messaging, while
- 1:10Speaker 1: declining to issue a formal apology. Accusing Stevens of attempting
- 1:14Speaker 1: to re-litigate their bitter August primary, El-Sayed's campaign leadership determined
- 1:20Speaker 1: that separate campaign schedules were necessary to prevent distractions heading
- 1:24Speaker 1: into Tuesday. Upon receiving the request to stay away from
- 1:28Speaker 1: the Sunday morning rally at Greater Emanuel Institutional Church of
- 1:32Speaker 1: God in Christ, Stevens reversed her posture. Stating publicly that
- 1:37Speaker 1: El-Sayed's campaign made clear she was no longer welcome, Stevens
- 1:42Speaker 1: joined Rogers at the nearby Perfecting Church in Detroit, formally
- 1:46Speaker 1: endorsing the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate while maintaining
- 1:50Speaker 1: she intended to support Democrats further down the ballot. The
- 1:54Speaker 1: move immediately triggered severe institutional shockwaves. Stephen's top congressional aide
- 2:00Speaker 1: resigned in protest, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned
- 2:04Speaker 1: the endorsement as a despicable betrayal. The sudden breakdown in
- 2:08Speaker 1: party unity comes as both campaigns race to mobilize key
- 2:12Speaker 1: voting blocs in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. While national
- 2:17Speaker 1: Democratic figures, including Rep. Jim Clyburn and former President Barack Obama,
- 2:23Speaker 1: have stepped up high-profile surrogate appearances to bolster al-Sayed's coalition
- 2:28Speaker 1: among Black, Arab American, and progressive voters. Republican groups and
- 2:33Speaker 1: President Donald Trump immediately seized on the endorsement to court
- 2:37Speaker 1: moderate suburban voters. With polling indicating a dead heat between
- 2:41Speaker 1: al-Sayed and Rogers, the unprecedented primary fallout presents a critical
- 2:47Speaker 1: test for Democrats seeking to protect their narrow path to
- 2:50Speaker 1: a Senate majority.