Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) office pushed back Saturday after Michigan Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign reportedly sought to keep Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) away from his events, saying she remained invited to a Sunday church appearance in Detroit.
“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 worked to bring the two together after days of public disagreements over Israel and antisemitism.
El-Sayed’s campaign reportedly told Stevens to stay away from its remaining events, according to the New York Times and Politico.
Seawright also told the Wall Street Journal that both Democrats remained welcome and that Clyburn was concentrating on turning out voters rather than taking sides in their dispute.
Clyburn himself told the Times on Saturday that he did not know whether Stevens would attend.
The disagreement comes as El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in a closely contested Senate race. Reuters reported that the campaign’s request risked extending divisions within the party just days before an election that could help decide control of the Senate.
Stevens narrowly lost the August primary to El-Sayed and endorsed him afterward. They appeared together at party unity events shortly after the vote.
CNN reported Wednesday that the two had not spoken in months, although their campaign teams remained in communication. Stevens had offered to help, and some members of her former campaign staff had joined El-Sayed’s operation.
The dispute involves a Rebellion PAC ad linking U.S. military aid to Israel with money unavailable for domestic needs. Stevens and other critics called the ad antisemitic. El-Sayed’s campaign denied involvement, while the group’s Cenk Uygur defended it as criticism of government spending rather than Jews.
Stevens said Friday that she accepted Clyburn’s invitation after Democrat intermediaries assured her El-Sayed would condemn the ad. She also demanded an apology for his own comments linking Israel aid to domestic funding shortfalls and called on him to remove a separate campaign ad featuring footage of Tucker Carlson criticizing Rogers. Carlson was not appearing as an El-Sayed surrogate.
El-Sayed responded by accusing Stevens of “relitigating a primary that ended three months ago” and urging Democrats to focus on defeating Rogers. On Saturday, he said he disagreed with the Rebellion PAC ad but avoided directly answering whether he wanted Stevens at Sunday’s church appearance, saying he preferred to focus on campaign issues, including political spending, health care, and household costs.
Stevens’s fiancé, Jason Turkish, said he will vote for Rogers over concerns about El-Sayed’s rhetoric on Israel and Jewish safety. Stevens maintains that she will vote for El-Sayed.
