El-Sayed, Stevens Avoid Democratic In-Fighting Questions, As They Shred Each Other

(GRAND RAPIDS) – U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and Abdul El-Sayed debated at the WOOD TV 8 studio where it turned into a verbal brawl, but both U.S. Senate candidates refused to address the schism in the party.

Moderator Rick Albin, a viewer question, and multiple reporters tried to get the

candidates to address the progressive and centrist schism that has been seen in the primary, but both candidates dodged the question while also leveling attacks that appealed to different sides of the Democratic Party.

“Chuck Schumer desperately wants one of us to be the next Senator, and it’s not me. So, if you want your politics dictated to by AIPAC or Chuck Schumer, then I’m not your guy. I think we need to go back to the idea of government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed mentioned the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spending $40 million on behalf of the Stevens campaign at least 16 times during the debate. He said he was the only one left in the race who had not taken corporate money, something he mentioned repeatedly.

He also brought up corporate political action committees paying for a trip for Stevens and her mom to fly to Portugal.

“Look, there are many who want to make this race for U.S. Senate about Washington, D.C., insider deals, and what’s going on with our party leadership. Friends, this is about the future of Michigan. Who is going to be the workhorse?” Stevens said.

Stevens's attacks against El-Sayed centered on him not releasing his tax returns, which he said he has filed an extension on, and not filing his personal financial disclosures in the Senate race.

She called El-Sayed a “show horse” and said the party doesn’t need another celebrity politician sitting at the legislative table.

She also said that El-Sayed was being helped along by Republicans because he was the candidate they wanted to face Mike Rogers.

“He won’t denounce the GOP when they are funding his operation and his candidacy, and now bragging about the false polls that they’re putting out that he’s going to be the best one to beat Mike Rogers. That’s me,” Stevens said.

The media room was packed with both Lansing Capitol reporters, local television reporters and national print and broadcast reporters, all looking to get answers about the progressive split in the Democratic Party and how that was playing out in Michigan’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary.

El-Sayed started out again dodging the question about the left turn of the Democratic Party and said no one knows what progressive and moderate means during this race.

“I think we need to stand up to the power of corporations in our politics and finally guarantee people health care. It’s not that hard, and so I don’t think that it’s a left-right question. Most people out there aren’t wondering where I stand on the left-right spectrum,” he said.

He said if leadership in Congress was bipartisanship and working with Republicans that wasn’t what he was about.

“I guess you’re getting stuff done, you’re just getting the wrong stuff done, but that’s what corporate money buys you, that you’re going to do the corporate thing, and we already have a corporate party. You don’t need another one,” he said.

He said Stevens was also voting to send “taxpayer dollars to a foreign government during a genocide,” a reference to the Israel’s war with Palestine in Gaza, and taking $37,500 from DTE, who ran an advertisement during the debate.

“I would trust somebody’s position more when that position didn’t happen to earn them nearly $30 million of outside spending to run their campaign,” he said.

He said any Democrat during the midterm after the primary is going to be labeled as a socialist.

“I’m just not a socialist. I’m just a capitalist who read about capitalism,” he said.

During that time he also took his first swipes at Rogers.

“Mike Rogers is like the beta character from the worst Caddyshack movie. He’s like the guy who just shows up to laugh at everybody else’s jokes,” El-Sayed said.

He framed him as someone from Florida, rather than Michigan and wondered what he did in Florida to get the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

“His own party hated him enough that when Donald Trump was on the ballot, he lost,” he said.

Stevens mentioned Trump 16 times during the debate, El-Sayed mentioned him four times.

El-Sayed said he looked forward to debating Rogers.

“The GOP thinks that they think all they can do is an attack and we’re just going to crouch. I don’t crouch, I punch back. I think Mike Rogers has got something coming when we sit on a debate stage, and I define him every which way from Sunday. I’m going to wipe the floor with that man up and down the state,” he said.

El-Sayed mentioned Rogers twice during the debate, Stevens mentioned Rogers 10 times.

When Stevens wasn’t attacking El-Sayed, she was talking about her work in Congress and how it relates to what she would do in the U.S. Senate.

She also defended against the corporate money and AIPAC attacks that have been the mainstay against her.

“No one impacts or influences my vote, except the people of Michigan. Michigan has been my north star,” she said.

She said in Congress she has worked for the state consistently and said she first met El-Sayed when he was running for governor.

“I’m not lip service, I’ve got a voting record. You can look at it,” she said.

She said she was behind universal health care and businesses in the state.

“We have to stop this internal fighting and clipping at each other when Trump wins and then screws us,” she said.

She said she can’t count the attacks El-Sayed has leveled at her.

“He just said I can’t string together two sentences, and I wanted the facts and the record to be clear, and I also wanted to give him the treatment that he has been giving me, particularly in terms of transparency,” Stevens said.

She again referred to his tax returns.

She was asked if the Michigan U.S. Senate race was a litmus test for the schism in the Democratic Party between the progressives and moderates.

“I’m not into that. I’m going to tell you, people are always saying this stuff about the future of the party, and this DC insider stuff, and where we are going. Take a look at my brand of governing and politics,” she said.

She said she knows the Democrats will be labeled a socialist organization by Republicans during the midterms and said it was a matter of Rogers rubber-stamping Trump's agenda.

“You’ve got 60% of people in this country living paycheck to paycheck. It’s ballooning. You have unemployment for Black women skyrocketing right now since Donald Trump came into office. I will do something about these things,” Sevens said.