Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) office pushed back Saturday after reports that Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign had asked Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) not to attend his events. Clyburn’s office said Stevens was still invited to appear with him at a Detroit church on Sunday.
“This is not Abdul’s event,” Clyburn adviser Antjuan Seawright told the New York Times. “The invitation still stands.”
Clyburn and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) had been working to reunite the two Democrats after days of public friction over Israel and allegations of antisemitism.
According to the New York Times and Politico, El-Sayed’s campaign told Stevens to stay away from the remaining events on his schedule.
Seawright also told the Wall Street Journal that both Democrats were still welcome. He said Clyburn was focused on mobilizing voters rather than choosing sides in the dispute.
Clyburn told the Times on Saturday that he was unsure whether Stevens would attend the church appearance.
The dispute comes as El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in a closely watched Michigan Senate race. Reuters reported that the campaign’s request could deepen divisions among Democrats just days before an election that may help determine control of the Senate.
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Stevens narrowly lost the August Democratic primary to El-Sayed before endorsing him. The two appeared together at party unity events soon after the election.
CNN reported Wednesday that they had not spoken in months, though their campaign staffs continued communicating. Stevens had offered to help, and several members of her former campaign team joined El-Sayed’s operation.
The conflict centers on a Rebellion PAC advertisement that linked U.S. military aid to Israel with a lack of funding for domestic priorities. Stevens and other critics described the ad as antisemitic. El-Sayed’s campaign denied any role in producing it, while the group’s Cenk Uygur defended the spot as a critique of government spending—not Jewish people.
Stevens said Friday that she accepted Clyburn’s invitation after Democratic intermediaries assured her that El-Sayed would denounce the advertisement. She also sought an apology for comments he made connecting aid to Israel with domestic funding shortfalls and called on him to pull another campaign ad that included footage of Tucker Carlson criticizing Rogers. Carlson was not serving as an El-Sayed surrogate.
El-Sayed accused Stevens of “relitigating a primary that ended three months ago” and urged Democrats to concentrate on defeating Rogers. On Saturday, he said he disagreed with the Rebellion PAC advertisement but did not directly say whether he wanted Stevens at Sunday’s church event. Instead, he said he would rather discuss campaign issues, including political spending, health care, and household costs.
Stevens’s fiancé, Jason Turkish, said he plans to vote for Rogers because of concerns about El-Sayed’s rhetoric on Israel and Jewish safety. Stevens has said she will vote for El-Sayed.
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