During the final debate before next week’s primary, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defended a disparaging remark he made about Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
El-Sayed, who has sharply criticized Israel throughout his primary campaign against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), was asked on Monday about comments he made during a Zoom meeting where he referred to Fetterman—an outspoken supporter of Israel—as an “ogre” that he would like to see put “on a pike”.
Debate moderator Roop Raj of Fox 2 News in Detroit brought up the issue during the broadcast, giving El-Sayed a chance to apologize.
“So many people took offense to that,” Raj said, “and it really pointed to the bigger question about the tone and tenor that you’ve been accused of having in this campaign. Do you regret any of the comments that you’ve made?”
El-Sayed, a former public health official, doubled down on his criticism of the Pennsylvania senator.
“I was referring to a guy named John Fetterman, who’s a senator from Pennsylvania who has done terrible things,” El-Sayed said. “He got elected on a set of values and is now completely throwing those values in the mud.”
El-Sayed added that state leadership requires an honest assessment of fellow lawmakers.
“And I do think it’s important for any senator in Michigan to have a relationship with folks who are in the U.S. Senate, and if those folks are not actually acting in accordance with what they got elected on, I think it’s important for all of us to have an honest opinion about what we’re going to do to make sure that our Senate looks like the people it represents,” he said.
The controversy stems from audio recorded during a Zoom call with Democratic donors and obtained by Politico. On the recording, El-Sayed argued that Fetterman should face a primary challenge in 2028 to serve as a warning to Democrats who deviate from key party positions.
“Primarying people like John Fetterman, I have no problem to do that,” El-Sayed said on the call. “Ideally you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different.”
Fetterman addressed the comments in a statement to Politico. “I pick being Senator Shrek over being the Pontiac Platner any day,” Fetterman said.
Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary election takes place on August 4.
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