Stevens, El-Sayed spar over party direction in debate
Abdul El-Sayed, the former Detroit health director seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan, said Monday that his “ogre on a pike” comment was aimed at Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, not his primary opponent, Haley Stevens. The clarification came during the final head-to-head debate before the state’s Aug. 4 primary, after leaked audio of a private Zoom call had sparked criticism.
In a recording published by Politico, El-Sayed was heard saying: “Ideally you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden [it] starts to sound a lot different.” The debate moderator, Roop Raj, pressed El-Sayed on the remark, asking whether he regretted it.
El-Sayed did not directly express regret but argued that he had stood up for civility, noting that he had chided supporters who mocked Stevens’ accent. “I took to Twitter last week and said that the tone in which people talk about my opponent is unkind, and I asked anybody who supported me to not talk about her that way,” he said.
Addressing the “ogre” comment directly, El-Sayed said: “I was referring to a guy named John Fetterman, who’s a senator from Pennsylvania who has done terrible things, got elected on a set of values, and is now completely throwing those values in the mud.” El-Sayed and Fetterman have clashed over the senator’s increasingly robust support for Israel; Fetterman has suggested he would leave the Democratic Party if it became “anti-Israel.”
Stevens responded with a quip: “Thank you for clarifying that you didn’t call me an ogre.”
The primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters has evolved into a proxy fight over the party’s future. Stevens, backed by establishment figures including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has identified as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat” and accepted substantial support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. El-Sayed has called Israel’s campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and denounced U.S. arms support for Israel. He has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), rallying the party’s left flank.
The contest is widely viewed as central to the battle for Senate control. Donald Trump won Michigan in 2024, making it among Republicans’ most promising pick-up opportunities. Former congressman Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race, has cleared the Republican field and appeared with Trump at a rally in Milford, Michigan, on Monday, where he promised to help enact the president’s agenda if elected.