JD Vance Abdul El-Sayed attacks: VP claims candidate would lead rioters 'burning down' Detroit
The JD Vance Abdul El-Sayed attacks escalated Tuesday when the vice-president told a campaign stop in Howell, Michigan, that the Democratic Senate candidate would be among those leading rioters 'burning down' Detroit, a week before the midterm election.
JD Vance Abdul El-Sayed attacks: VP claims candidate would lead rioters 'burning down' Detroit
What Vance said in Howell
Speaking at a campaign stop in Howell on Tuesday, JD Vance said El-Sayed would be at the front of any unrest, tying the Democratic candidate's politics to the leftwing protests in Paris that have led to thousands of arrests and pointing to his relationship with commentator Hasan Piker.
"if those rioters were burning down New York, or Detroit, the Hasan Pikers and El-Sayeds would be right there leading them"
Vance went further in comparing El-Sayed to what he described abroad: "What we saw in France – the hatred, the ingratitude, the desire to destroy rather than the desire to build – that exact same cancer is what has corrupted Abdul El-Sayed".
Escalating Republican attacks
Vance's Howell remarks build on a string of attacks from senior Republicans in the Michigan senate race:
- Donald Trump, during a visit to Michigan on Sunday, branded El-Sayed a "jihadist" and accused him of being "on the side of the terrorists"
- Trump said Michigan needed to "stand up and fight" against El-Sayed and has repeatedly used his middle name, Mohamed
- Vance had earlier alleged El-Sayed was a representative of "terrible evil" who fights for "one group at the expense of others"
El-Sayed's response
El-Sayed answered the attacks by turning to policy, saying it was "evil" to deprive people of healthcare and affordable groceries.
At a weekend rally, he argued his opponents hoped that remarks about his name and Muslim faith would distract voters from the costs they face - from filling up with gas to buying groceries to seeing a doctor.
Why Vance is in Michigan
Vance has made several visits to Michigan as Republican candidate Mike Rogers seeks the seat El-Sayed is vying for. El-Sayed would become the country's first Muslim senator if he wins next week's election.
