Vice President JD Vance used a Monday campaign stop in suburban Detroit to demand that Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed stop invoking his wife, Usha Vance, in political attacks.
Vance appeared at a rally hosted by the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. at Universal Contracting and Urban Tree Trimming, campaigning for Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers ahead of the November election in Oakland County.
Before addressing his wife, Vance ran through what he characterized as troubling elements of El-Sayed’s record, saying Michigan voters should judge the candidate on it.
“My message to Abdul El-Sayed is: you can pal around with terrorist sympathizers, and you can say that America deserves 9/11, or you can empathize not with the children who were targeted at Temple Israel, but with the attacker,” Vance said. “These are all despicable things, but they’re all things that the people of Michigan will judge you on based on your record.”
Vance then turned directly to El-Sayed’s repeated references to Usha Vance on the campaign trail.
“But whatever you want to talk about, Abdul — keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth, because she’s way out of your league,” Vance said.
Vance told the crowd he would not “disrespect somebody’s family by talking about another person’s wife, a person who isn’t on the ballot,” adding that he felt particularly protective given that he and Usha Vance have a five-week-old baby at home. “You know, look, I don’t know who his wife is. I’m sure she’s a lovely person,” he said.
The vice president went further, describing what he called a broader trend he believes El-Sayed represents.
“And I realized that there’s something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today,” Vance said. “And it’s people who see themselves not as citizens of a coalition fighting for every single person, whether they’re Jewish or Christian, whether they’re white, black, or brown, but see themselves as fighting for one group at the expense of others.”
The dispute traces back to a Vance rally in Ohio last month, where the vice president criticized El-Sayed’s position on Sharia law and referenced his own grandfather. El-Sayed responded on social media by writing, “So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…” El-Sayed later argued Vance’s remarks implied some Americans are more American than others.
El-Sayed has also faced criticism over comments he made following the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, when he said “hurt people hurt people.” On Saturday, he apologized to the Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus for the remark. “If my statement caused pain, I’m sorry. It was not what I intended to do,” he said.
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