Vance In Monroe Calls El-Sayed 'Little Weasel,' Pitches To Black Voters, Moderate Dems
(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/15/2026) (MONROE) – Vice President JD Vance called Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed “a little weasel” today while urging voters in Republican-leaning Monroe County to send Mike Rogers to Washington.
Speaking to more than 300 people at Monroe’s LevelUp Training Complex, Vance portrayed El-Sayed as an extremist while appealing to moderate Democrats and Black voters.
“Michigan deserves a veteran. Michigan deserves better than a little weasel who should shut his mouth and show a little gratitude to the country that gave him everything,” Vance said.
President Donald Trump carried Monroe County with 62.74% of the vote in 2024. The challenge for Republicans this fall is getting those supporters to vote without Trump on the ballot while addressing concerns about the economy.
Karen Lewis, president of the Republican Women’s Club of Monroe County, said enthusiasm in the rural areas where she lives “might not necessarily be there so much.”
Lewis supports Trump’s economic agenda but said Republicans have not adequately explained how policies causing short-term pain are supposed to produce long-term gains. High gas prices are a particular concern.
“I think his agenda for the country is great . . . I don’t think even the majority of Republicans can actually articulate what that agenda is and what he’s trying to accomplish,” Lewis said.
Vance’s message centered on the stakes of the election and his argument that candidates such as El-Sayed represent an increasingly extreme Democratic Party.
“This is not the party of JFK. It’s not the party of Franklin Roosevelt. It’s not even the party of Bill Clinton,” Vance said.
“They’re testing just how extreme, just how far they can go in a nice, common-sense Midwestern state.”
Vance took the stage around 4:30 p.m., opening with a reference to his Ohio State University roots.
“You all can make fun of me on Buckeye football all you need, so long as we get out there and make Mike Rogers the next senator,” he said.
In an appeal to Black voters, Vance criticized internet personality Hasan Piker, who previously campaigned for El-Sayed, for saying in a 2024 livestream discussion about border control, “I don’t give a f–k what Black people care about or what you think Black people care about.”
“I happen to believe in a very simple principle that the reason why we care what Black people think is because Black Americans are our fellow citizens, and we fight for everybody,” Vance said.
He also challenged El-Sayed on policing, asking whether voters would accept someone who would “abandon Detroit’s most vulnerable citizens, Black and White, to the criminals, rather than empower our police to go after those criminals.”
Rogers repeated his criticism of El-Sayed’s writings about Egypt, including a 2011 essay urging the United States to support protesters against autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, even if elections brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power.
El-Sayed also signed a 2012 statement with other Egyptian Americans calling for a swift purge of media and police as Mubarak’s successor, Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed MORSI, faced scrutiny.
"Just yesterday, Abdul refused to acknowledge his family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood . . .if you think about what's at stake in this election, and you think about the things that have just happened, people who fund his campaign fund the Muslim Brotherhood. His family and ties to the Muslim Brotherhood that he has lied about," Rogers said. "As a former FBI agent, I can tell you this: we should call that a clue."
El-Sayed supporters have described Republican attempts to link him to flagged Islamist groups as bigoted and dangerous.
El-Sayed supporters have described Republican efforts to associate him with Islamist organizations as bigoted and dangerous.
During a Michigan Democratic Party press call this morning, former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow argued that Rogers would stand with Trump while trying to hide a record that “has actually spiked costs.”
For Barb Thompson, a 68-year-old Newport resident, opposition to El-Sayed could help bring Republicans to the polls.
“I think it’s going to cause more red voters to come out so that he doesn’t win. So that’s my personal feeling, but I could be wrong,” she said.
Thompson, an office manager at a country club, said she previously voted for Democrats and initially disliked Trump in 2016. This year, she said, her children and grandchildren are motivating her to vote.
“I don’t want them to depend on the government. We shouldn’t have to depend on the government. The government should be there to oversee things, keep us safe and that’s it,” Thompson said.
Analiese Janda, a 17-year-old Plymouth Christian Academy student who co-founded and edits her school newspaper, attended because she sees Vance as a potential 2028 presidential candidate and wants to become more involved in politics.
She predicted Rogers would outperform Republican gubernatorial nominee John James, citing greater publicity and support. But she also saw a challenge in Rogers’ appeal to younger voters.
“Mike Rogers, his biggest weakness is kind of going for more of the older generations,” Janda said.
Lewis also acknowledged the possibility that Rogers could win while Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson prevails in the governor’s race.
“I think it could happen,” she said, “and God let us hope not.”
