Michigan Democrats walk tight rope to support El-Sayed, appeal to moderates. GOP’s Rogers pounces

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers is suggesting state Democrats are struggling to find a balance between supporting Abdul El-Sayed in his Senate campaign and maintaining enough distance to avoid the accusations of extremism facing him.

El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in the recent Senate party primary, though he significantly underperformed polling that had projected a landslide in his favor. 

His ties to contentious online influencer Hasan Piker, progressive organizations and other left-wing blocs associated with socialism have allowed Republicans to paint him as an extremist.

While El-Sayed is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he has embraced similar policies to that organization and is a critic of Israeli military operations in Gaza. His position on the ticket and the growth of Israel-critical factions have caused some tension within the party. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, notably skipped the party’s state nominating convention, leading to speculation her absence stemmed from the party’s shift away from supporting Israel.

Convention Dissention

The state party convention cemented El-Sayed as their Senate nominee and formally backed Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee with Winnie Brinks as her running mate.

Speaking to “Just the News, No Noise” in an interview to be aired Monday, Rogers commented on the apparent lack of any photos showing El-Sayed with Benson or Brinks, suggesting it signaled an attempt by the gubernatorial ticket to keep its distance from him.

“[T]he dynamic is fascinating,” he said. “They just had the Democrats just had their final nomination convention about a week ago, and you won't find a picture with El Sayed with the rest of the Democrat ticket. That to me sent a very clear message that, 'Yeah they think they got to vote for him, or they want to support him.' But man, they don't want to be standing near him, and there's a reason for that.”

A review of the Michigan Democratic Party’s social media could not identify any images or video from the convention showing El-Sayed with either Benson or Brinks. Just the News has sought comment from the Michigan Democratic Party.

Rogers, for his part, indicated that the frustration toward El-Sayed that he perceived within the Democratic Party creates an opening for him to win over disaffected voters.

“This guy is very extreme, and so I think that when you look at where we're going, we're actually building coalitions around attracting Democrats who think he's too extreme, from black voters in Detroit and Flint and other places around the state to Jewish voters who are lifelong Democrats, saying, ‘I just can't vote for this guy. He's so extreme,” he added. “So we're building all the right coalitions to bring this over the finish line in November.”

Twitching over Twitch

Driving some of the accusations of extremism hitting the El-Sayed campaign is his relationship with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has amassed a sizable following as an independent political commentator on the streaming platform. Piker has endorsed El-Sayed and appeared at his campaign events.

Piker has previously stated his belief that America deserved 9/11, called for the streets to “run red with capitalist blood,” and recently visited Cuba in a heavily scrutinized humanitarian trip in support of the communist regime there. Rogers contended that El-Sayed’s relationship with Piker and his appearances on the campaign trail were clear signals of his opponent’s extremism.

“But remember, this Hassan Piker, he's trying to say he's only a Twitch streamer from California. This is the guy he brought into the state of Michigan,” Rogers said. “[A]nd think of his hateful vitriol ... . He doesn't take him out to to you know average places around the state where people work for a living. [He] [t]ook him to our college campuses to talk to our kids to try to make sure that they understood that being anti-American is just okay.”

“That's what makes him so extreme for the state of Michigan. This is the guy that said America deserved 9/11. That the streets of America should run red with capitalist blood,” Rogers went on.

El-Sayed has not publically cut ties with Piker but has said, "I am not interested in a conversation about a social media person in California ... ."

Shying Away From Socialism

El-Sayed has disavowed the label of “socialist” altogether. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from highlighting the overlap between his policy positions and those of the DSA or other far-left organizations.

“But I have to tell you, if you tax like a socialist, if you spend like a socialist, if you confiscate your personal and private property like a socialist, which is he's for all of those things, then guess what? You're a socialist,” Rogers said.

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday echoed Rogers’s sentiments, saying "[t]his guy Abdul El-Sayed, he says that he stands for working people. Well, if you stand for working people, then why have you supported the same policies that for 40 years shipped the Michigan auto industry to foreign nations?"

Vance made the remarks during a White House press briefing in which he field at least one question on his continued friendship with conservative media pundit Tucker Carlson, who has attracted scrutiny from some on the right over his criticism of Israel and recent statements that he would prefer El-Sayed to Rogers due to their differing views on Israel.

"I think El-Sayed's a crazy person," Vance said. 

On his relationship with Carlson, he said, "If you have a disagreement with somebody politically, even over a deeply held issue, you should still be friends with that person because the whole Republic depends on people with different perspectives being able to talk to one another.”

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.