President Trump weighed in on Michigan’s tumultuous Democratic Senate primary Wednesday, casting Abdul El‑Sayed’s narrow victory as a boost for Republicans defending their slim majority this fall and another embarrassing night for pollsters.
“Great news for the Republican Party. El‑Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist [Rep. Haley Stevens],” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As usual, the Polls were way off on this one. She was not expected to do nearly as well as she did. Now, the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!”
Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to Ms. Stevens as “the Socialist,” even though Mr. El‑Sayed — not Ms. Stevens — ran to the left in the race and drew backing from Sens. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, New York Democrat.
He campaigned for Medicare for All and against the party’s traditional pro-Israel orthodoxy. He said it was time to stop arms sales to Israel, and accused the longtime U.S. ally of carrying out a genocide in Gaza.
Ms. Stevens, by contrast, was the establishment‑aligned moderate, supported by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and buoyed by more than $30 million in spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s United Democracy Project, which hoped to stop Mr. El-Sayed.
Polls showed Mr. El-Sayed with large leads heading into election night. But the race proved to be a nail-biter.
Several outlets projected Mr. El‑Sayed as the winner a day after polls closed, with the latest tally showing him leading Ms. Stevens by less than one percentage point.
Mr. El‑Sayed will face former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Trump‑backed Republican nominee, in November — a matchup expected to be among the most competitive in the country and pivotal to control of the Senate.
