Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens’ fiancé, who is firmly standing by his vote for a Trump-backed Michigan Senate candidate, escalated the ongoing tension between progressive Abdul El-Sayed and his partner on Saturday.
Appearing on Fox News, Jason Turkish chimed in on a controversial ad that suggests Israel is to blame for making prices higher for Michigan families.
“You know, we spend only a ‘few billion dollars a year,’ and I say that in quotes, on support for a very strategic ally in the Middle East,” Turkish said. “If we choose not to do that tomorrow, that’s not enough money to solve hunger in America, or healthcare in America, or rebuild our schools in America. But yet, Abdul tells folks that that’s what stands in our way, and it puts Jews at risk.”
Turkish, a donor to both Republican and Democratic candidates this year, stirred controversy after declaring he will vote for President Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers, splitting from his fiancée, who reaffirmed that she would vote for El-Sayed.
She even told the New York Times in an interview published Saturday that “I think he’s going to win,” but dodged the reporter when asked if she wanted him to win.
“I don’t know why you’d ask me that,” she said.
Stevens’ interview with the Times comes after tensions between her and El-Sayed spiked on Friday, when she demanded he disavow a Rebellion PAC ad made by Hasan Piker’s uncle, left-wing media personality Cenk Uygur.
She claims the ad tells viewers “Jews are responsible for America’s economic woes.”
“This ad tells Michigan families they cannot afford groceries because their money has to be set aside for ‘killing Palestinians,’ and it blames our close ally Israel for everything Michiganders cannot afford,” Stevens said in a statement.
El-Sayed is not affiliated with the Rebellion PAC, and his campaign distanced itself from the group’s ad. A spokesperson for his campaign told the New York Times, “No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign.”
However, Stevens still demanded that El-Sayed take down another ad featuring right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson “out of the same respect for Michigan’s Black community.”
While the two were set to make a rare appearance alongside South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn at a get-out-the-vote event at a Detroit church, El-Sayed told Stevens to steer clear of any remaining campaign events as the midterms approach, Politico reports. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the reports to HuffPost.
This comes after El-Sayed, who is vocal about his criticism of Israel, released his own statement addressing Stevens’ demands, accusing her of “relitigating” their primary tensions.
“So while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics,” the statement read.
Turkish chimed in to defend his fiancée during his Saturday appearance on Fox News, calling her “a woman who has devoted her life to Democratic politics.”
“Now, at this moment, where she hears the pains of the Jewish community, what does she say? She says, ‘I still want to show up for my party, for my country. I just need you to say Jews aren’t to blame for the price of bananas, for the price of eggs.’ And she’s asked not to come,” Turkish said.
Turkish lashed out at El-Sayed again in an interview with The New York Times, saying he would be “less safe on this planet if Abdul El-Sayed is the senator, if he is insisting on sticking to the current program.”
“He is so unwelcoming to people who have reasonable anxieties about Jews being scapegoated once again, as they have been for thousands of years, that the idea that he will steer not just U.S. policy, but foreign policy globally, it makes me extremely, extremely anxious,” he said.