Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul-Sayed’s campaign reportedly tried to block Rep. Haley Stevens from attending his event, saying she was still invited to attend a church appearance in Detroit on Sunday, something South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn’s office declined on Saturday.
“This is not Abdul’s campaign,” Clyburn adviser Antjuan Seawright told the outlet New York Times. “The invitation remains valid.”
Clyburn and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., worked to bring the two together after days of public disagreements over Israel and anti-Semitism.
El-Sayed’s campaign reportedly told Stevens to stay out of the rest of his campaign. new york times and politics.
Searight also told wall street journal Both Democrats remain popular, and Clyburn is focusing on winning over voters rather than taking sides in the debate.
Claiborne himself told era On Saturday, he didn’t know if Stevens would participate.
The disagreement comes as El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in a tight Senate race. Reuters reported that the campaign’s demands could widen intra-party divisions days before elections that could help decide control of the Senate.
Stevens narrowly lost the August primary to El-Sayed and subsequently endorsed him. They appeared together at a party unity event shortly after the vote.
CNN reported Wednesday that the two have not spoken in months, although their campaigns have remained in communication. Stevens offered to help, and some members of her former campaign staff joined El-Sayed in the effort.
The dispute involves an ad by the Insurrection Political Action Committee that linked U.S. military aid to Israel to funding that failed to meet domestic needs. Stevens and other critics called the ad anti-Semitic. Saied’s campaign denied involvement, while the group’s Cenk Uyghurs argued it was a criticism of government spending, not Jews.
Stevens said Friday that she accepted Clyburn’s invitation after Democratic intermediaries assured her that El-Sayed would denounce the ad. She also demanded that he apologize for comments he made linking Israeli aid to domestic funding shortages and called on him to remove another campaign ad that included footage of Tucker Carlson criticizing Rogers. Carlson did not appear as El-Sayed’s attorney.
El-Sayed responded that Stevens was “relitigating the primary that ended three months ago” and urged Democrats to focus on defeating Rogers. On Saturday, he said he disagreed with the Insurrection PAC’s ads but avoided directly answering whether he wanted Stevens to attend a Sunday church appearance and said he preferred to focus on campaign issues, including political spending, health care and family costs.
Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Türkiye, said he would vote for Rogers because of concerns about El-Sayed’s comments about Israel and Jewish safety. Stevens insists she will vote for El-Sayed.