Vance tells El-Sayed to keep wife's name out of his mouth
Vice President JD Vance fired back at Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed during a Detroit rally, telling him to focus on policy and stop attacking his wife, Usha Vance.
Vice President JD Vance pushed back hard against Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Monday, telling the candidate to stop bringing his wife into the campaign and focus instead on substantive policy debates. Speaking at a metro Detroit rally organized by MAGA Inc., a super PAC aligned with the president, Vance said the people of Michigan would rather hear about ideas than personal attacks.
«I actually think that the people of Michigan think it's kind of weird when you talk about another guy's wife,» Vance said. «I think the people of Michigan would like you to talk about the public policy ideas… I think the people of Michigan would like you to talk about how you're going to protect auto workers when you're supporting every single policy that has undercut the wages and jobs of Michigan auto workers your entire life in public service.»
The vice president then delivered a blunt warning to El-Sayed: «But 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.»
The exchange began after El-Sayed posted a social media message questioning whether Vance would take his wife, Usha, with him «back in time to meet Papaw.» The comment followed Vance's suggestion that Sharia law would have been an alien concept to his grandfather. Critics interpreted El-Sayed's post as a reference to Usha Vance's Indian heritage.
El-Sayed later defended his remarks, saying his point was that Vance appeared to be suggesting some people are «more American» than others based on how long their families have been in the country. He noted that Vance's own in-laws are immigrants.
Conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky responded to the Democratic hopeful's statement by saying, «If you're a rural White American living in Michigan, just remember El-Sayed believes you're a racist.»
Earlier in his speech, Vance accused El-Sayed of undercutting his support for working people by taking liberal positions on immigration. The vice president highlighted El-Sayed's past support for allowing illegal immigrants to obtain standard driver's licenses, arguing such a stance would hurt American truckers.
«We're here to talk about protecting Michigan truck drivers, but also protecting the safety of every single person who drives on the road with a semi truck, which is all of us,» Vance said. «Here's the crazy thing. Just a few years ago, Abdul El-Sayed said that we need to make sure that illegal aliens have driver's licenses in this country. He would love to undercut the wages of American truckers.»
El-Sayed expressed support in 2018 for allowing illegal immigrants to obtain standard driver's licenses, though he did not specifically push for those in the country illegally to receive the commercial driver's licenses necessary to operate long-haul trucks.
Despite their differences on immigration, Vance and El-Sayed both agree in principle that tariffs should be used to benefit American industry. The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.
