A political firestorm erupted online after Abdul El-Sayed, the controversial socialist Senate candidate in Michigan, brought second lady Usha Vance into a jab aimed at Vice President JD Vance — prompting critics to question how he might treat female staff if elected in November.
“El Sayed is now attacking Wives [sic] of US leaders? What a guy,” former Florida state Rep. Ben Graber wrote on X.
El-Sayed, who is running against Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers, made the remark Saturday after Vance criticized him at an Ohio rally over his stated adherence to Sharia law. Vance suggested the practice would have been entirely foreign to his grandfather, whom he refers to as his “Papaw.”
“So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…” El-Sayed posted, in what appeared to be a reference to the second lady’s Indian ethnicity.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment seeking clarification on what, exactly, he intended to imply.
“Why does Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed just assume that all White midwestern grandparents are racist?” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, asked in response to the post.
Commentator Ryan Girdusky also weighed in, saying, “If you’re a rural White American living in Michigan, just remember El-Sayed believes you’re a racist.”
“This is why there were ads in the primary correctly highlighting how sexist and misogynistic Abdul is,” said an X account run by Democrats backing El-Sayed’s opponent, Mike Rogers. “He has so much contempt for women. If you’re over the politics of division. Reject Abdul El-Sayed.”
Others accused El-Sayed of being racist himself.
“You are a racist creep,” said journalist Emily Schrader in response to El-Sayed’s post.
Earlier in the day, El-Sayed also made a post directed toward Natalie Harp, an aide to President Donald Trump. Far-left media and Democrats online have spent the past two weeks implying that Harp and Trump have an improper relationship.
“Natalie, I think he’s had a little too much iPad for the week. He needs his rest,” El-Sayed said in response to Trump blasting him at a rally for campaigning with far-left socialist Hasan Piker, who has said that “America deserved 9/11.”
“This is what I’m talking about,” said GOP strategist Matt Whitlock, posting screenshots of the posts directed at Harp and Usha Vance. “Just a bad campaign, bad candidate, bad instincts. Sitting at home on a Saturday morning tweeting bad takes that any normal campaign would shut down.”
“He goes after Usha. He goes after Natalie [Harp]. This coward picks on women who are not in his fight. Imagine how he would treat female staffers in the halls of Congress,” said Tudor Dixon, a Republican former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan.
Fox News Digital reached out to the vice president’s office and a representative for Usha Vance, but did not immediately hear back.
