During Wednesday’s edition of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) said she continues to support Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens said she believes El-Sayed “can” and “will” reject what she described as “dangerous” campaign advertisements—one that blames Jews for rising grocery prices and another that features Tucker Carlson.
Stevens said, “[O]ur nominee is in a very strong position to denounce the hateful ads that have hurt people. We’ve got one with Tucker Carlson, who is a racist, anti-black, white [supremacist] apologist, and we’ve got another that’s blaming Jews for the cost of groceries.”
She argued that El-Sayed should publicly condemn both the Carlson advertisement and antisemitic rhetoric. “Abdul — and I fully believe he can do this — can denounce Tucker Carlson and denounce antisemitic hate, things that make, particularly, minority communities feel less safe and actually make them less safe,” Stevens said. She added that blaming Jews for expensive groceries or unaffordable healthcare is dangerous for Jewish people, while promoting Carlson can leave members of the Black community feeling targeted and unsafe. Stevens said she believes El-Sayed has the ability to reject both ads and call for their removal.
“I want to encourage this campaign to shut out the hate and to call it out and to make people who were in my coalition, right? Make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls, right?” Stevens said.
Stevens reiterated her confidence that the candidate would respond appropriately. “I know our candidate can do the right thing here. I know that we can disavow blaming Jews for the cost of groceries being high. And I know that we can disavow Tucker Carlson,” she said. “I believe he can do that and will do that.”
