Abdul El-Sayed's Senate campaign has entered nothing-left-to-lose mode, and it's a joy to watch.
I've said before that I think El-Sayed’s campaign knows it is in trouble. Yet with days to go before voters decide one of the most closely watched races of the 2026 midterms, El-Sayed sure isn't acting as if he is a candidate who cares. He's feuding with his own party, shrugging off an antisemitism scandal, and running ads that leave his biggest fans baffled.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), whom El-Sayed beat in the primary, was supposed to join him and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) at a Michigan church this weekend for their first joint appearance.
That event now looks dead after El-Sayed failed to distance himself from a blatantly antisemitic ad from Rebellion PAC, a left-wing group that Cenk Uygur, the uncle of El-Sayed booster Hasan Piker, founded. The ad showed a couple unable to buy groceries because Jewish people exist, essentially blaming U.S. aid to Israel for the price of food. Jewish leaders condemned it, and even ardent liberals agreed it was antisemitic.
Stevens demanded that El-Sayed denounce the ad and apologize for his own rhetoric blaming Israel for Michigan families struggling to afford schools, healthcare, and childcare.
"If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start," Stevens said in a statement. "I therefore expect him to apologize for those statements as well."
El-Sayed answered with a blistering statement of his own, accusing Stevens of "relitigating a primary that ended three months ago." He couldn't resist rubbing her nose in the loss, either.
"That focus is why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens," El-Sayed said.
Quite a statement from Abdul El-Sayed: "Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago." https://t.co/F11HckhYyL
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) October 30, 2026
According to Politico, his campaign has also asked Stevens to stay away from all campaign events. So much for party unity. El-Sayed still hasn't forcefully condemned the Rebellion PAC ad, and he seems allergic to the subject of antisemitism altogether. Every day he dodges, he hands Republicans more ammunition and drives a deeper wedge into his own party.
CNN senior political commentator David Urban argued on CNN's The Arena that El-Sayed made his bed long ago.
"He could have chosen to go down the middle lane and run as a moderate Democrat, but he didn't," Urban said. "He chose to campaign with Hasan Piker and to air these ads about the reason bananas cost more is because of the Jews."
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Host Kasie Hunt noted that the grocery ad came from an outside group. Then she played the one El-Sayed's campaign actually made. Its closing pitch features praise from Fox News' Jesse Watters, a few talking heads gushing about his looks and his high school football career, and Tucker Carlson declaring, "I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint."
Paul Begala, a longtime Democrat strategist who has endorsed El-Sayed, was dismayed. Asked whether the ad was smart politics, he didn't hesitate.
"No," Begala said. "He's got footage of Barack Obama, like the most popular Democrat in America, probably the most popular politician in America. President Obama went to Michigan to campaign with Abdul."
Begala added that he wants El-Sayed to win, and hopes everyone in Michigan votes for him.
"But he's making it hard on me as a strategist to understand why the hell you'd run an ad with Tucker when you've got footage of President Obama," he said.
.@PaulBegala's message to the El-Sayed campaign on its controversial ad featuring Tucker Carlson: "He's making it hard on me, as a strategist, to understand why the hell you'd run an ad with Tucker when you've got footage of President Obama?!" https://t.co/clkq8YpSzK
— The Arena on CNN (@TheArenaCNN) October 30, 2026
Notice what bothers Begala. The antisemitism doesn't make his list of complaints. His gripe is purely tactical. Obama went out of his way to rally for El-Sayed and shore up his support with black voters, an effort that probably won't save him anyway, and the campaign shelved that footage in favor of Tucker Carlson.
That's a strange choice for a man trying to win.
It makes a lot more sense for a man who has already made peace with losing. El-Sayed looks ready to go out with a bang, burn every bridge on the way down, and turn his defeat into a rallying cry against the establishment Democrats he blames for it.
