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 team said Stevens was still welcome at 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 arrange a meeting between the two Democrats following several days of public clashes over Israel and antisemitism.
According to the New York Times and Politico, El-Sayed’s campaign told Stevens to avoid the rest of his scheduled events.
Seawright also told the Wall Street Journal that both Democrats remained invited. He said Clyburn was focused on mobilizing voters rather than siding with either candidate in their dispute.
Clyburn told the Times on Saturday that he was unsure whether Stevens would attend the church appearance.
The conflict comes as El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in a tight 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 fell to El-Sayed in the August primary but endorsed him after the contest. The two appeared together at party unity events soon after the election.
CNN reported Wednesday that Stevens and El-Sayed had not spoken in months, though their campaign organizations continued communicating. Stevens had offered to assist, and several former members of her campaign staff went on to join El-Sayed’s team.
The dispute centers on a Rebellion PAC advertisement that connected U.S. military aid to Israel with funding shortages for domestic priorities. Stevens and other critics denounced the ad as antisemitic. El-Sayed’s campaign said it was not involved, 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 told her El-Sayed would condemn the advertisement. She also sought an apology for comments he made linking aid to Israel with shortfalls in domestic funding. In addition, she called on him to take down another campaign ad that used 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 appearance. Instead, he said he wanted to focus on 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 regarding Israel and Jewish safety. Stevens, however, has said she will vote for El-Sayed.