Michigan https://washingtonsun.com/michigan Michigan en-US Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:11:01 GMT Great Lakes Construction Project Moves Ahead Just Hours After Whitmer Called Trump https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/great-lakes-construction-project-carp-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-trump-phone-call Associated Press The Democratic governor has developed an unusual relationship with a president who was once one of her fiercest political foes. Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:11:01 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/great-lakes-construction-project-carp-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-trump-phone-call President Donald Trump greets Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The episode underscores the top-down and relationship-driven nature of the Trump administration — where direct phone calls and displays of deference to the president remain the best way to get things done. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
By Joey Cappelletti

An unexplained Trump administration hold on construction of a state-federal project aimed at preventing invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes was abruptly lifted this week, hours after a call to President Donald Trump by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The Army Corps had halted work without explanation on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project near Joliet, Illinois, in July, leaving officials in Illinois and Michigan struggling for answers about the pause even as environmental officials warned that invasive carp were being found alarmingly close to Lake Michigan.

Then Whitmer, a Democrat, called Trump.

The Wednesday phone call was a surprising intervention by the Democratic governor, who has developed an unusual relationship with a president who was once one of her fiercest political foes. Hours after the call, the stop-work order was lifted.

The episode underscores not only the unusual cross-party relationship Whitmer has cultivated with Trump, but also the top-down and relationship-driven nature of his administration — where direct phone calls and displays of deference to the president remain the best way to get things done.

“Governor Whitmer spoke with President Trump today to ask him to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lift the stop-work order,” Bobby Leddy, a spokesperson for Whitmer, said in a statement. “The governor underscored the urgency of the moment, noting that invasive carp were recently found just 80 miles from Lake Michigan — farther up the Illinois River than ever recorded.”

Whitmer's office said that Wednesday they had been notified that work on the project could resume. The White House referred questions to the Army Corps of Engineers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A pivotal project in flux under Trump

Illinois, Michigan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have spent years planning a gantlet of technologies in the Des Plaines River near Joliet to keep invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan. The project has repeatedly faced uncertainty under Trump, despite his public support for it and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding approved under President Joe Biden.

In March, Whitmer pressed Trump to release federal funding for Brandon Road. Trump soon posted on Truth Social that he was “working with Governor Gretchen Whitmer” to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp, and the Army Corps released funding for the project’s next phase the following month. The administration then issued another stop-work order in July, saying the project was undergoing an administrative review but offering little explanation.

“It’s time for the Trump Administration to uphold the federal government’s obligations, stop playing political games, and move this project forward,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a July 30 statement.

The urgency increased in August, when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources detected hundreds of juvenile invasive carp about 80 miles from Lake Michigan, the first time carp of that size had been found that far upstream since monitoring began in 2010.

Whitmer's unique relationship with Trump

Whitmer, who is term-limited and set to leave office in January, has operated more freely with Trump during his second term after the two sparred repeatedly during his first. She has traveled to the White House to meet with him and welcomed him to Michigan, drawing criticism at times from fellow Democrats for her willingness to work with the Republican president.

Yet even after Michigan officials received word that the stop-work order had been lifted, officials in Illinois — where the project is located — had not been notified of the decision, raising questions about whether the project could remain in flux.

In stark contrast to Whitmer, Pritzker has emerged as one of Trump's most outspoken critics among the nation's governors as he considers mounting a bid for the 2028 Democratic nomination to replace him.

“Despite the Brandon Road Interbasin Project being in Illinois, the state has received no new communication from the Trump administration,” Matt Hill, spokesperson for Pritzker, wrote in a statement. “You would expect if the administration really cared about protecting the Great Lakes they would notify Illinois.”
]]> Abdul El-Sayed Explains Why He Apologized for His Statement on a Synagogue Attack https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-synagogue-attack-apology Alex Roarty, Ed Demaria The Democratic Senate nominee said he wasn’t trying to “score political points” when he apologized recently for a statement he made after a terrorist attack on a synagogue. Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:30:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-synagogue-attack-apology AP26231677855826
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed told NOTUS that he apologized for that statement, as it may have unintentionally seemed like he was justifying the attack. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, said he is “deeply committed to the safety of the Jewish community” after apologizing for past comments linking a terrorist attack on a synagogue earlier this year to a greater cycle of violence.

“I felt the need to apologize, and apologize clearly and directly, for the pain that I might have caused,” El-Sayed said on the latest episode of the On NOTUS podcast. “We can disagree agreeably that my commitment to Palestinian self-determination does not come at the cost of Jewish safety, and where my words obfuscated that, I needed to correct that.”

Earlier this year, a man crashed a car into a synagogue in a Detroit suburb and began shooting, injuring a security guard, before being killed in a shoot-out. The attacker was identified as a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon who had lost relatives in an Israeli airstrike in his native country a week before.

In a video condemning the attack, El-Sayed said that “hurt people hurt people” and that “violence is a cycle.”

El-Sayed told NOTUS that he apologized for that statement, as it may have unintentionally seemed like he was justifying the attack.

“I wanted to make sure that folks understood that the attempt to offer a broader context in a moment so close to an attack like that was ill-timed, it was ill-suited for for the broader goal I had, which is to say when a community is attacked, it's wrong,” El-Sayed said. “There's plenty of opportunity to talk about how things are interconnected, but not in the acute moment of pain.”

El-Sayed’s apology comes as he is trying to unite the party behind his campaign amid criticism for his association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.

“The reason I issued the apology wasn't to score political points,” El-Sayed said. “The reason I issued an apology is because I don't want to cause people pain.”

In an interview published in August with The Atlantic, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she was “concerned” that El-Sayed still stood by his comments on the synagogue attack.

“What does that mean for American Jews moving forward if you can rationalize what’s happening in a war in the Middle East on attacks on your own people here in the state of Michigan?” Nessel said.

El-Sayed told NOTUS that he has not talked to Nessel since his apology, but is looking forward to speaking with her.

Democrats, such as Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, have criticized El-Sayed over his views on the Israeli government, but El-Sayed said there is room for disagreement within the party.

“The Democratic Party, as we always say, is a big tent,” El-Sayed said. “I respect my fellow Democrats who deeply disagree with me on this issue, and it is on us to make that argument to voters, and voters are gonna decide who they want to nominate and who they want to elect accordingly.”

El-Sayed was targeted with millions in outside spending from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee in his primary campaign against Rep. Haley Stevens, and said he expects more of the same in the general election against Republican nominee Mike Rogers.

“Mike Rogers is going to bring huge amounts of outside money, largely funded by exactly the same people who funded the outside spending against me in the primary,” El-Sayed said. “He is going to try to make this race about everything except for the fact that you can't afford your groceries, you can't afford your home, you're worried about whether or not your kids are gonna get priced out of extracurricular activities like sports.”

Rogers has ramped up efforts to win over Jewish Democrats in the state, seizing on El-Sayed’s relationship with Piker and El-Sayed’s views on the Israeli government. El-Sayed, meanwhile, has been attacking Rogers regarding his relationship with President Donald Trump.

“I think Michiganders understand that [Rogers] is not a leader,” El-Sayed said. “He's been a beta his whole life. He's a guy who shows up to laugh extra loud at the alphas’ jokes. And that's what he does with Donald Trump, right?”



On NOTUS is a weekly podcast where NOTUS reporters talk to lawmakers about their work in Washington and what motivates them. You can download or listen here.]]> Abdul El-Sayed Says Mike Rogers Has Been a ‘Beta His Whole Life’ https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers-masculinity Alex Roarty The Michigan Democrat laid out his view of masculinity in an interview with NOTUS. Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:07:15 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers-masculinity AP26231677855826
"I believe that masculinity is about lifting up," Abdul El-Sayed said in an interview. Paul Sancya/AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, of compromising his masculinity to appease President Donald Trump, saying in sharply personal terms that the candidate doesn’t know how to be a real man.

“He's been a beta his whole life,” El-Sayed said during an appearance on this week’s On NOTUS. “He's a guy who shows up to laugh extra loud at the alpha’s jokes. And that's what he does with Donald Trump, right? Donald Trump's out here, he says, ‘Mike, jump.’ And Mike says, ‘How high?’”

Rogers, the Democrat added, has “never seen a command from a stronger man that he doesn't want to take.”

https://x.com/NOTUSreports/status/2094818253038096563
El-Sayed faces Rogers in one of the marquee races of the midterm election. Michigan hasn’t elected a Republican senator in more than 30 years but backed Trump in 2024. Republicans have aggressively targeted Michigan after El-Sayed won his party’s competitive primary earlier this month, believing that his unabashedly progressive politics put it in play even amid a difficult political climate for the GOP nationally.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, has sought to portray himself as a progressive champion who can still appeal to young Republican-leaning men, touting his high school football career and love of the University of Michigan’s football team. His campaign against Rogers has increasingly turned into a masculinity contest — last month, he challenged Rogers to a “no pads” face-off on a football field. It’s a theme across Senate races this year: Republican Ken Paxton has suggested his opponent in Texas’ Senate race, Democrat James Talarico, has low testosterone.

In the interview with NOTUS, El-Sayed laid out a conception of masculinity that he set as an alternative to conservative masculinity, including the views articulated by Trump.

“These very small men have tried to make masculinity about punching down. I believe that masculinity is about lifting up, whether you're lifting a weight or you're lifting people around you.”

A Rogers spokesperson dismissed El-Sayed’s criticism.

"While Abdul slings elementary insults, Mike Rogers is focused on fixing our elementary schools,” said Alyssa Brouillet, a Rogers campaign spokesperson. “We have a state to save."

The entire On NOTUS interview with El-Sayed will be released on Wednesday.]]> JD Vance Calls Abdul El-Sayed ‘Very, Very Evil’ in Rally for Mike Rogers https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jd-vance-abdul-el-sayed-very-very-evil-mike-rogers-rally Torrie Herrington El-Sayed countered that the election is about the “chaos” of Trump and the “cowardice” of Rogers. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:21:03 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jd-vance-abdul-el-sayed-very-very-evil-mike-rogers-rally Vance
Vice President JD Vance used much of his rally for Republican Mike Rogers to attack his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed. (Saul Loeb/AP)
Vice President JD Vance called Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed “very, very evil” on Monday, escalating Republican attacks on the Democrat ahead of the midterm election.

Vance, appearing in Michigan to rally for Republican candidate Mike Rogers, spent much of his time talking about El-Sayed, portraying the Democratic nominee as a dangerous figure who is willing to inflame racial and religious divisions.

“There’s something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today,” Vance said.

“It’s people who see themselves not as citizens of a combination, fighting for every single person, whether they’re Jewish or Christian, whether they’re white or Black or brown, but see themselves as fighting for one group at the expense of others,” the vice president continued. “And that is how, ladies and gentlemen, you destroy the United States of America.”

Vance focused heavily on El-Sayed’s association with political Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has faced backlash over past comments about Israel, Jewish people and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. El-Sayed has disavowed Piker’s most controversial remarks but has continued to face questions about their relationship.

Vance also attacked El-Sayed over comments he made after a March attack on Temple Israel, a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan. El-Sayed apologized this past weekend for saying “violence is a cycle” and “hurt people hurt people,” adding that he had made a mistake. He spent much of the weekend reaching out to the Jewish Democratic caucus in Michigan.

“We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned it outright. What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context, and you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain,” El-Sayed told reporters Saturday in Lansing, Michigan.

The vice president also went after El-Sayed over a recent X post mentioning his wife, Usha Vance.

“Whatever you want to talk about, Abdul, keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth because she’s way out of your league,” Vance said to cheers from the crowd.

Before Vance’s visit to Michigan, El-Sayed held a press conference taking aim at the Trump administration’s trade war with Canada.

“Over the past couple of weeks, Michiganders have been struck by yet another disastrous Trump policy: the expansion of a trade war with Canada,” El-Sayed said. “With Mike Rogers, he has no choice but to rubber stamp, to ‘roger,’ a trade war that is now costing Michiganders — that he says he wants to serve — nearly $6,000 a year.”

El-Sayed said that “the choice could not be more clear.”

“It is the chaos of the Trump administration, the cowardice of Mike Rogers, and the corruption of the entire MAGA party — or it’s a politics built on the notion that it should be people, rather than corporations and special interests, who dictate what our future looks like,” he said.]]> Hasan Piker Roils Michigan Senate Race https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/hasan-piker-abdul-el-sayed-senate Jenna Monnin Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has tried to distance himself from the left-wing streamer’s recent comments about Jewish Americans, but some lawmakers say it’s not enough. Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:34:26 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/hasan-piker-abdul-el-sayed-senate Election 2026 Michigan Senate
Abdul El-Sayed’s connection to Hasan Piker, with whom he campaigned ahead of the August primary, has followed the Senate candidate’s race throughout the summer — even as El-Sayed tries to separate himself from Piker’s comments. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo
Streamer Hasan Piker’s comments about Jewish Americans’ support for Israel are still haunting Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign, as the Michigan Democrat tries to distance himself from the growing backlash within his own party.

Piker’s broadcasts, which frequently include criticism of the Israeli government, have become a trip wire for moderates eager to denounce him before conservative opponents can tie his commentary to their own campaigns. Democrats’ quick condemnation this week shows how toxic associating with Piker has grown on the Hill — a risk for swing-state candidates like El-Sayed, who has campaigned with the streamer before.

“Hasan Piker is an antisemite,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) said on Fox News on Tuesday. “Nobody should be anywhere near this guy. Nobody should campaign with him or repost him. Frankly, anyone who is quiet right now is complicit.”

A new wave of Piker criticism began when an audio clip resurfaced last week, appearing to feature Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss saying his campaign’s main objective is ensuring the U.S. continues its support for Israel. While Moss says the audio used is fake, Piker spoke about the video during a Monday stream — arguing that Jewish Americans’ continued support for Israel promotes the idea that the community is “monolithic,” thus opening them up to violence.

“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action — not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said.

Moss initially said he was not going to endorse El-Sayed unless the Senate candidate increased outreach to his district’s Jewish community. The state senator backed out of doing so following Piker’s stream, Semafor reported.

El-Sayed’s connection to Piker, with whom he campaigned ahead of the August primary, has followed the Senate candidate’s race throughout the summer — even as the Democratic nominee tries to separate himself from the streamer’s comments.

“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed wrote in a statement.

But a slate of Jewish Democrats said Tuesday that they think El-Sayed needs to take a stronger stance against Piker and further disavow the streamer’s rhetoric before it tanks the Senate candidate’s campaign altogether.

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois), who chairs the New Democrat Coalition, criticized El-Sayed for what he sees as refusing “to condemn the words of Hasan Piker, his friend and frequent campaign surrogate.”

“It is disingenuous for El-Sayed to try to distance himself from Piker without specifically condemning, refuting, or even just rejecting Piker’s hateful rhetoric,” Schneider wrote in a press release Tuesday. “Claiming that no one speaks for him except himself and his team is not enough.”

Gottheimer on Tuesday reiterated his call to pass his resolution denouncing antisemitic rhetoric from online personalities like Piker and Candace Owens, a measure he introduced in April with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York).

El-Sayed’s potential Senate colleagues also weighed in: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) said that while Piker has been “trafficking in antisemitic tropes for a while,” his recent statement “is a new low.”

“In a time where political violence and anti-semitism has been spiking — and where just 6 months ago Michigan had a nearly deadly event of anti-semitic mass violence at Temple Israel — no one should causally be suggesting that anyone, Jews or otherwise, are to blame for being targeted,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) wrote on X.

During a Tuesday news conference meant to address a rise in Islamophobic rhetoric, El-Sayed took a moment to denounce antisemitism and uplift Judaism, which he called “a beautiful faith that rhymes with so much of my own.”

“Insofar as there are disagreements about foreign policy, my hope is that folks understand where those disagreements align and also understand that that does not come at the cost of Jewish safety,” the Democrat said, referencing earlier conversations with Moss.

El-Sayed’s news conference came after Jake Lang, a self-described anti-Islamic activist and Jan. 6 riot participant, held protests this month in Dearborn, home to the highest proportion of Muslims in the country. The Senate candidate has faced Islamophobic rhetoric leading up to the general campaign, and spoke on Tuesday alongside other statewide candidates and religious leaders.

Republican opponent Mike Rogers has tried to court Jewish voters who may be hesitant to back El-Sayed over his criticism of Israel, but those efforts have so far seen limited success.

Meanwhile, a number of other congressional Democrats have pushed to disavow Piker’s language as the party grapples with growing divisions among voters on sending military aid to Israel.

“There is a bright line between vigorous debate and rhetoric that stokes hatred toward our neighbors. Mr. Piker has crossed that line, repeatedly and unmistakably,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) said in a statement.

Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) was one of the first Democrats to speak out against Piker and defend Moss. She told reporters on Tuesday that El-Sayed — whom she has not endorsed — had “not reached out to me yet. If he would, I would have some questions,” referencing the candidate’s “past associations” with Piker.

Scholten and Piker exchanged heated messages Monday on X after the congresswoman called his comments “unacceptable.”

Piker hit back on X, calling Scholten “an israel 1st congresswoman” who was “vying for the spotlight.”

“There’s only one of us hurting the chances of a Democratic majority in November…and it ain’t me!” Scholten replied.]]> Michigan Congressional Candidate Says Viral Clip of His Voice Is a ‘Fabrication’ https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jeremy-moss-israel-hasan-piker-abdul-el-sayed Jenna Monnin Democratic nominee Jeremy Moss said the audio clip was manipulated and “peddles in offensive tropes and lies.” Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:05:23 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jeremy-moss-israel-hasan-piker-abdul-el-sayed HRC's Michigan Passage of LGBTQ+ Protections presser
It's unclear where the clip of Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss originated and where it was first shared — though it appears to have been online since late last year. Kevin W. Fowler/AP
Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, is facing backlash over a resurfaced audio clip in which he appears to suggest that the primary objective of his campaign is to ensure continued U.S. support for Israel — a clip he now claims is a fake.

“There is a manipulated and unsourced audio, with things I never did and never would say, that is nothing more than political disinformation intended to portray me as anti-American,” Moss wrote last week on X. “It peddles in offensive tropes and lies — especially the lie of dual loyalty suggesting that Jews are never fully citizens of or loyal to their home countries.”

The use of artificial intelligence in campaigns has skyrocketed ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. As the technology becomes more sophisticated — with AI tools able to mimic a person’s likeness, including their voice — it has become harder to tell which video and audio clips are authentic. AI has also crept into some candidates’ political advertising, and federal regulation remains murky on the issue.

It's unclear where the clip of Moss originated and where it was first shared — though it appears to have been online since late last year.

One of his opponents in the Aug. 4 primary, Aisha Farooqi, reposted the clip to X on July 21, and it quickly picked up traction. It was also shared by the American Independence Project, an advocacy group that opposes foreign influence in U.S. elections, on Aug. 7, and received more than 1.5 million views.

https://x.com/AishaforMI/status/2079571368429953509?s=20

Farooqi responded to Moss’ denials by suggesting a forensic analysis could reveal the truth.

“A simple audio analysis can confirm that it is, in fact, your voice and speech patterns,” Farooqi wrote on X last week.

Moss bested Farooqi in the primary by more than 26,000 votes.

The controversy comes as Michigan grapples with growing divisions among its Jewish voters this midterm cycle, with candidates trying to stake out where they stand on Israel. Given Michigan’s status as a battleground state, a few thousand votes can propel a campaign to victory.

In the clip, the voice identified as Moss says, “The entire purpose of my campaign is to make sure America continues to support Israel.”

“I don’t think it’s wrong for Jews in America to want to put Israel first. America is not our homeland and we have been victims of antisemitism here,” the clip continues.

Track AIPAC, a watchdog group that documents financial contributions made by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, posted the video on Reddit on Nov. 24, 2025. The group has also reshared the video since it started going viral in recent weeks.

Farooqi, the American Independence Project and Track AIPAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Moss has been a vocal proponent of Israel’s “right to defend itself” from threats and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has strongly disavowed the content in the clip. However, his post calling it fake garnered little media attention until he spoke with The Detroit News for a story published over the weekend.

Moss told the newspaper that the clip was “either stitched and edited together or just a complete fabrication.” He also said it is part of a “dangerous pattern of things” he’s experienced during his campaign, where U.S. support for Israel has become a flashpoint.

Hasan Piker, a controversial far-left online personality known for his staunch criticism of the Israeli government, spoke about the clip on a recent broadcast, using it to argue that American Jews’ support of Israel was opening them up to violence.

His comment was met with immediate backlash from people in both parties, including Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for Senate, who campaigned alongside Piker ahead of the primary election. Progressive candidates have faced criticism in recent weeks for appearing on the campaign trail with Piker.

El-Sayed, who has previously spoken out against antisemitism during his campaign, distanced himself from Piker’s comments on Monday.“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed wrote in a statement.

“Hasan Piker's calls for violence against American Jews, and directly naming a Michigan elected official (and future Congressional colleague) Jeremy Moss are unacceptable,” Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) wrote in a statement Monday. “We should all be calling out this disgusting rhetoric so it loses it’s grip on our politics once and for all. It has no place in Michigan, and no place in our country.”

Moss told Slate he has not yet endorsed El-Sayed because the Democratic Senate nominee is “going to have to demonstrate some serious outreach to Oakland County’s Jewish community.” Moss’ prospective U.S. House district encompasses much of Oakland County, which has the highest population of Jewish voters in the state.

The Michigan state lawmaker is seeking to replace Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who chose to run for Senate instead but lost to El-Sayed in the primary by a small margin.

El-Sayed’s Republican opponent in the general election, former Rep. Mike Rogers, denounced Piker’s comments and called on El-Sayed to do the same. Since winning the Republican nomination, Rogers has been courting Jewish voters in Michigan who might be hesitant to support El-Sayed because of his criticism of Israel.

“Absolutely DISGUSTING,” Rogers wrote on X about the clip of Piker. “If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all. We’re waiting, Abdul …”]]> Mike Rogers’ Pitch to Jewish Democrats May Be Falling Flat https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/mike-rogers-election-jewish-democrats-abdul-el-sayed Jenna Monnin The Republican has been trying to poach Jewish voters who are hesitant to support Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, but local leaders say they don’t see the pitch sticking. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:34:58 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/mike-rogers-election-jewish-democrats-abdul-el-sayed Election 2026 Michigan
In contrast to Abdul El-Sayed, Mike Rogers has billed himself as a pro-Israel candidate, saying Israel has “every right to defend their nation” from threats. Paul Sancya/AP Photo
Mike Rogers lost his Senate race in 2024 by fewer than 20,000 votes. Now, the Republican is ramping up efforts to pick off portions of historically Democratic coalitions in Michigan — including Jewish voters who draw a hard line on support for Israel.

The dynamics reflect a pressure point for progressive Democrats, who have had to tread carefully while speaking out against Israel as the party contends with growing divisions in a competitive midterm cycle. The Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, is one of the candidates most vocally critical of Israel running a statewide race this year, and battleground Michigan — which has some of the country’s largest Arab and Muslim populations — is a prime test for whether historically liberal communities will break from Democrats over the foreign policy debate.

This week, Rogers has ramped up his efforts to hone in on that corner of the electorate, including dropping a new ad on Tuesday centering a voter wearing a Star of David necklace who described herself as a “pissed off Democrat.” Furthermore, an open letter from Jewish Democrats started circulating Wednesday, in which signatories ask Jewish Democrats and independents to back Rogers over El-Sayed, who the Republican has called “beyond antisemitic” in the past.

But some experts, including Jewish political leaders in Michigan, say Rogers has a low chance of meaningfully peeling off support from the long-standing Democratic bloc.

“That letter does not reflect our caucus at all,” Decky Alexander, chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, told NOTUS. “We are not in the business of putting forth any kind of movement or initiative that would undermine the current slate of Democratic candidates.”

“I don't know if it's dangerous, but I find it shortsighted,” Alexander added. “I don't want people to think that it's reflecting this broad scope of the Jewish community because I don't believe it does.”

El-Sayed and other statewide candidates are set to speak at a late August event hosted by the caucus, which is an official branch of the state Democratic Party and backed Rep. Haley Stevens in the primary. Alexander says the group is waiting to throw its support behind El-Sayed, and would not do any further endorsements until after the Aug. 30 gathering.

If elected, El-Sayed says he would support an immediate arms embargo and oppose distributing “direct blank-check funding” to foreign militaries, including Israel. The candidate, who is the most prominent Muslim running statewide this year, has also gone out of his way to specifically condemn antisemitism.

“I want you to know that my commitment to your safety — my commitment to Jewish safety — is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters,” he told prospective voters the day after winning his primary.

This week’s open letter, first reported by Jewish Insider, describes Rogers as “a friend to the Jewish community” and asks voters to separate the Republican nominee from President Donald Trump.

“All of us have felt threatened and alienated by the politics and allies embraced by Abdul El-Sayed,” the letter, led by Detroit businessman Eric Bronstein, reads. “We cannot allow him to become the Democratic standard-bearer or Michigan’s senator.”

Bronstein did not respond to a request for comment. The group has not publicly released the full letter, and told Jewish Insider it plans to publish the letter online once it has gained “a significant initial group of signers.”

Rogers’ campaign has tried to capitalize on the divide in the meantime by courting Jewish voters, who nationally tend to support Democrats in large margins. He has featured Jewish faith leaders and members of the community on campaign stops.

"We’re grateful for the support from Jewish Democrats who’ve been ringing our phones off the hook asking what they can do and how they can get involved,” the Rogers campaign’s communications director, Alyssa Brouillet, told NOTUS.

Republicans are similarly trying to court the Jewish vote in other states like Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins has tried to capitalize on Sen. Jon Ossoff’s criticism of the Israeli government — despite Ossoff’s moderate political views and his status as the state’s first Jewish senator. But El-Sayed’s campaign highlights how, particularly over the last three years, progressive Democrats have had to maneuver condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza while facing backlash from critics who say their comments are antisemitic.

Other left-leaning politicians like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is also Muslim, have tried to tailor their messages to somewhat weather the storm of criticism — though El-Sayed is still addressing the fallout from his past comments on Israel-U.S. policy.

When asked by CNN in July if Israel has the right to exist, El-Sayed pushed back on the question, calling it a “gotcha game.”

“I think the question we all ought to ask is does everybody have equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination? That’s Jewish Israelis and Palestinians,” he said later in the interview.

Midwest political strategist Adrian Hemond said one of El-Sayed’s top priorities ahead of the general election should be “giving a nonslippery answer” when asked sweeping questions about Israel’s right to exist.

“He's never given a direct answer to that question, and I think that concerns about his views will persist until he does,” Hemond told NOTUS, adding that he doesn’t think El-Sayed appears to have made a meaningful effort to engage with Jewish communities in the state.

El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner told NOTUS that the candidate remains in “regular dialogue” with local Jewish leaders in hopes of building the “broadest possible coalition.”

Alexander says she has been in contact with El-Sayed through her work with the caucus, which has been “inundated” with voters’ requests for conversations with the nominee. But she still thinks the Democrat needs to adjust his rhetoric and increase outreach with Jewish voters if he hopes to win in November — especially since he is “a better messenger for his own ideas than I am.”

“There is a lot of profound — and still is — anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric coming out of that campaign, and it has to be addressed more directly,” Alexander said. “It has to be addressed, otherwise people will continue to write more letters like that.”

In contrast to El-Sayed, Rogers has billed himself as a pro-Israel candidate, saying Israel has “every right to defend their nation” from threats. While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent a record-breaking amount to prop up Stevens during the Democratic primary, the group could mount another large spending campaign to support Rogers before November, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

There is limited polling on the views of Michigan’s Jewish voters, who comprise roughly 1.4% of the state’s electorate. A national Associated Press survey found that few Jewish adults see either party as highly supportive of their communities, and respondents were divided on whether criticism of Israel counts as antisemitic. Another poll of 500 Michigan Democrats, released three weeks before the primary, found that voters did not place a high level of importance on candidates' positions on Israel and Gaza when making their choice. Almost half had an unfavorable view of AIPAC.

Alexander and Theresa Reid, chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party — the county with one of the largest Jewish populations in the state — stressed that the issue is not monolithic and there is a significant diversity in thought among Jewish voters.

“I can tell you definitively that there is not one stance on this issue; the strategy conversation is very active,” Reid wrote in an email to NOTUS.

The Washtenaw County GOP’s chair, Jason Rogers, described the letter as “correct and necessary” and says he has spoken to a few Jewish Democrats that are planning to support Rogers.

“The Democratic Party has left the Jewish community behind. As Republicans we would welcome them into the real big-tent party,” Rogers wrote in an email. “Above all, allegiance to our Constitutional Republic comes first.”

In a swing state like Michigan, the power of a few thousand votes cannot be overlooked. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Jewish Democrat who positions herself as a moderate critic of Israel, bested Rogers in the 2024 senate race by less than a half a percentage point.

With 75 days until the general election, Alexander says the push to break Jewish voters away from El-Sayed doesn’t currently have real traction. While the Democratic candidate has some work to do, she said liberal voters know the stakes are high if they hope to break up Republicans’ control of the Senate.

“He's got to do some convincing — but also, you know, the state of the world might just do that convincing as well,” Alexander said.]]> Three More Congressmen Violated the STOCK Act https://washingtonsun.com/money/thanedar-tran-mann-stock-act Dave Levinthal Two Democrats and a Republican were months late disclosing stock and crypto trades. Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:24:06 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/thanedar-tran-mann-stock-act Tran Thanedar Mann STOCK Act.jpg
A lack of STOCK Act compliance is among the reasons cited by members of Congress pressing for a stronger conflicts-of-interest and insider trading law featuring greater consequences. Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call / AP and Francis Chung / POLITICO / AP
Three more members of Congress have violated an insider trading and transparency law, according to a NOTUS review of federal financial records, making them the latest in a litany of lawmakers who’ve blown by a federally mandated deadline for publicly disclosing their personal financial investments.

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan) violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act by not disclosing a January sale of Apple stock, worth between $100,001 and $250,000, until Thursday. He likewise didn’t disclose an October sale of stock in MicroStrategy, one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin, until Thursday, as well.

In an email to NOTUS, Thanedar said his wife sold her MicroStrategy shares at a 17% loss — bought for $19,805 and sold for $16,410. The company recently rebranded to the name Strategy.“As soon as we realized the sale, we filed it and will accept the applicable penalties,” said Thanedar, who recently lost his reelection campaign.

The STOCK Act mandates that federal lawmakers disclose individual stock, bond and cryptocurrency trades within 45 days of making them. Penalties for late disclosures begin at $200.

This is the third time Thanedar has violated the STOCK Act. Last year, after his second violation, he told NOTUS that he would voluntarily divest of his individual stock holdings. On Friday, he reiterated that he supports “actual efforts to ban congressional stock trading.”

Rep. Tracey Mann (R-Kansas) was nearly two years late disclosing 10 tech-heavy stock trades made by his wife and involving companies that include Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and NVIDIA.

Taken together, the trades are worth between $10,010 and $150,000. (Lawmakers are only required to disclose the values of their trades in broad ranges.)

Mann’s Washington congressional office acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment but did not otherwise respond to phone and email messages.

Rep. Derek Tran (D-California) was about a year late disclosing the sale of Litecoin, a cryptocurrency, according to a document filed Thursday with Congress.

Tran spokesperson Jindalae Suh said the congressman did not disclose it because he believed the value of his Litecoin sale fell below a $1,000 threshold for publicly reporting a stock, bond or cryptocurrency trade.

But the sale ultimately “crossed that threshold because of cryptocurrency volatility,” Suh told NOTUS. “Once he became aware of that, he promptly disclosed it. Congressman Tran has consistently supported greater transparency and stronger restrictions to prevent members of Congress from using public office for personal profit.” A lack of STOCK Act compliance is among the reasons cited by members of Congress pressing for a stronger conflicts-of-interest and insider trading law featuring greater consequences.

In July, the House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act — a Republican-backed measure that earned limited support from Democrats, including Tran — that would in part ban federal lawmakers from buying new individual stocks while serving in office. The bill, which some Democratic detractors have called too weak, awaits consideration in the Senate.

Senators who’ve violated the STOCK Act during the past year include Sens. Alan Armstrong (R-Oklahoma), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) and John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania).

In the House, STOCK Act violators include Reps. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Linda Sánchez (D-California), Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lisa McClain (R-Michigan), Pat Ryan (D-New York), Sheri Biggs (R-South Carolina), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), Rich McCormick (R-Georgia), Ritchie Torres (D-New York), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania), Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois), George Whitesides (D-California), Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), Austin Scott (R-Georgia), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Kelly Morrison (D-Minnesota), Christian Menefee (D-Texas), Daniel Webster (R-Florida), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Laurel Lee (R-Florida) and Scott Franklin (R-Florida). Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) was also late, although his office denies it.]]> Abdul El-Sayed Calls Streamer Hasan Piker’s Past 9/11 Comment ‘Dumb’ https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/michigan-senate-el-sayed-hasan-piker-comments-9-11 Jenna Monnin The Michigan Senate candidate did not answer whether he plans to appear with Piker again on the campaign trail. Sun, 09 Aug 2026 18:21:05 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/michigan-senate-el-sayed-hasan-piker-comments-9-11 Election 2026 Michigan
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed called it “gotcha politics” to criticize his affiliation with streamer Hasan Piker. Paul Sancya/AP
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed denounced streamer Hasan Piker’s past comment that America deserved the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it a “dumb statement.”

“Of course it was a dumb statement and of course I think Hasan himself would say that was a dumb statement,” El-Sayed said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

El-Sayed appeared with Piker on the campaign trail ahead of the Michigan primary, triggering a backlash over Piker’s 2019 comment that “America deserved 9/11, dude,” and that we “totally brought it on ourselves.” Piker, a left-wing commentator whose Twitch stream is one of the platform’s most subscribed channels, walked those comments back two days later.

El-Sayed would not answer whether he plans to campaign with Piker ahead of the general election.

“He disavowed it. So yes, America didn’t deserve 9/11, but you know, to sit here and play gotcha politics with a dumb thing somebody said out of context that they disavowed themselves — to say, ‘Oh, well, what does that mean about what you think?’” El-Sayed said. “I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do, rather than this idea that we’re so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020, but we seem to want to bring back.”

Earlier this year, El-Sayed told Politico he was “not here to disavow people’s views” when asked about Piker’s 9/11 comment.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent nearly $32 million in an effort to defeat El-Sayed, who has called for an end to unconditional aid to Israel and has characterized Israeli military operations in Gaza as a “genocide.” The day after El-Sayed won the Senate nomination, President Donald Trump accused him of hating Jewish people and Israel, which El-Sayed strongly denies.

“I love and revere Judaism and the Jewish people,” El-Sayed told NBC, adding that he grew up in a community with a large Jewish population. “I am honored in what I got to share with my Jewish sisters and brothers, but they are not the same as AIPAC and Israel.”

El-Sayed said taxpayer dollars should fund Michigan projects rather than “subsidize foreign militaries” abroad, but he also said the U.S. should back Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

“In Ukraine, you're talking about attacks from a leader of a neighboring sovereign country who clearly violated international law in attempting to breach the sovereignty of the Ukrainian public. That is conditional on that circumstance,” El-Sayed said. “We have been offering unconditional foreign military aid to Israel, independent of the circumstances, for years and years and years.”

Trump and other GOP officials have started drawing attention to the Democrat’s full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, in attack ads and speeches. Conservatives used the same tactic with former President Barack Obama by invoking his middle name, Hussein.

“Notice how they chose to use my full name. It echoes exactly what they did against President Obama,” El-Sayed said. “They are going to try to paint me as a certain thing given my name, but I also think it’s important for us to recognize that America has a long history of embracing.”

He said he’d spoken by phone with Obama and hoped the former president would join him on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in November.]]> Republicans Are Running Ads Attacking 'Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed' https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/abdul-el-sayed-attack-ads Angie Orellana Hernandez Michigan’s Democratic Senate candidate said he saw this coming. Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:14:28 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/michigan/abdul-el-sayed-attack-ads Election 2026 Michigan Senate
“This is the best place in the world to be Abdul,” El-Sayed said. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo
Moments after Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won his Michigan Senate primary, Republicans released their first general election attack ad against him — this time, using his full name.

Ahead of El-Sayed’s November matchup against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other GOP officials began to draw attention to the Democrat’s full name: Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

The NRSC had almost exclusively referred to El-Sayed, who could become the country’s first Muslim senator, by the shorter version of his name until this week. Using his full name, the committee’s debut ad slammed him as “the most radical Senate candidate in America” and connected him to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Egyptian branch, which the State Department recently classified as a terrorist group.

Other examples immediately started piling up, from the Republican National Committee casting El-Sayed by full name as a “terrorist supporter” to NRSC Vice Chair Jim Banks’ comments saying Michigan’s union Democrats wouldn’t “want to vote for a guy like Abdulrahman El-Sayed.”

Emphasizing El-Sayed’s full name and casting him as a terrorist follows a familiar strategy of using Islamophobic rhetoric to target Democrats of color: Conservatives often invoked — and, sometimes, continue to invoke — former President Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein, as a derogatory reference despite his not being Muslim. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani encountered Islamophobic comments during and after his campaign, while former Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison faced repeated attacks over his faith as the first Muslim to serve in Congress.

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“That’s the only play they got. They’re gonna point at me, they’re going to point at my name, like, ‘Wow, he’s different,’” El-Sayed said in a news conference Wednesday. “You can’t actually talk about what you want to do? My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is not taking us to war. My name is not the reason you can’t afford your groceries.”

“This is the best place in the world to be Abdul,” he added.

Targeting candidates based on their Muslim faith or perceived connection to the religion is commonplace, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan chapter. But this behavior is rarely admonished in public, he added.

“Islamophobia is the accepted form of bigotry in American politics,” Walid said.

Republicans are framing the attacks on El-Sayed as a response to his denunciation of Israel’s actions in Gaza, a campaign issue that has loomed over many of Michigan’s elections this cycle. The NRSC’s first general election attack ad called out his connection to left-leaning streamer Hasan Piker, with whom the Michigan Democrat has campaigned this year. El-Sayed says he supports “equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike.”

“And to all of my sisters and brothers of the Jewish faith or any faith or no faith at all,” El-Sayed said Wednesday, “I want you to know that my commitment to your safety — my commitment to Jewish safety — is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters.”

Beyond using his full name, many Republicans are characterizing the progressive candidate as everything from a “terrorist” to a “radical” to a “communist.” Rogers called El-Sayed an “extremist” and linked him to the Muslim Brotherhood in a statement Wednesday.

“I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice. Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11,” misattributing Piker’s words to El-Sayed, who has never made those comments.

The NRSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An RNC press release used El-Sayed’s name as wordplay, saying, “Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Is A Terrorist Sympathizer Who Wants To Take A Sledgehammer To America, Believes America Deserved 9/11, And Let Terrorists Run The Show.”

After El-Sayed was declared the winner on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson warned against communism, part of an emerging conservative talking point meant to dissuade moderates from supporting progressive candidates.

“We must take a stand and FIGHT to protect the greatest nation in the history of the world from being overrun by Mini Mamdanis,” he said on social media.

President Donald Trump, who prominently promoted “birther” conspiracies against Obama and frequently references his predecessor’s middle name, accused El-Sayed of being a “hater of Jews and Israel” as he veered into an extended riff on communism during an economic rally speech.

“Abdul El-Sayed. Can you believe this? This could only happen to me,” Trump said on Wednesday, over-enunciating the Michigan Democrats’ name to boos from the audience. “Abdul El-Sayed, lovely gentleman — he’s a man of hate."

Trump referenced El-Sayed’s full name again on Thursday, writing on Truth Social that the only thing they had in common was their desire to end the filibuster.

Michigan holds some of America’s largest Muslim and Arab-American populations — though El-Sayed’s primary win shows a wide percentage of people outside of those communities didn’t hold his religion “against him,” Walid said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), who backed El-Sayed ahead of the primary, said the “name-calling” is distracting from policy issues.

“It's ugly,” Warren told reporters Wednesday. “I wish it wouldn't happen in America, but at the end of the day, I don’t think they’re going to work. I think people see through that now, and they want to hear how their candidate for Senate is going to make their lives better.”

This story has been updated to include the president’s Thursday Truth Social post.]]>