Abdul El-Sayed campaigns on healthcare amid Republican attacks

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, is campaigning on proposals for guaranteed health care and paid leave. He has also employed confrontational rhetoric, calling his Republican opponent Mike Rogers a "coward" and President Donald Trump "afraid" to visit the state. El-Sayed has stated that if Republicans want him to be the "main character" of the midterms, he will not shy away from it.

Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars attempting to portray El-Sayed as a dangerous radical. As of Oct. 10, Republican spending in the Michigan Senate race totalled $78 million, compared to $63 million spent by Democrats, according to AdImpact. Approximately $40 million of Republican expenditure has funded negative advertisements, while Democrats have spent around $20 million on similar ads.

The Republican campaign has linked El-Sayed to controversial figures and past statements. Ads have highlighted his past calls to defund the police and relax immigration enforcement. He has also been tied to online streamer Hasan Piker, who made comments about "America deserved 9/11." Senator John Kennedy stated El-Sayed "sleeps in a Bin Laden jersey," and Vice President JD Vance called him "evil." President Trump shared a social media post contrasting El-Sayed and his wife, who wears a hijab, with the caption: "Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s." Trump also referred to El-Sayed as "Mohammed" and said he "goes back to the days of the Jihad."

El-Sayed has responded to these attacks with his own combative remarks. He has taunted Trump to visit Michigan, suggesting Rogers and other Republicans feared the president would harm their chances. Responding to Kennedy's comment, El-Sayed posted on social media that the Republican was in the KKK, adding, "That’s rich coming from someone who wears his bed sheets out at night."

Despite the Republican efforts, no Republican has won a Senate race in Michigan since 1994. El-Sayed's supporters believe his progressive agenda and adversarial approach appeal to an electorate disillusioned with the political establishment. However, some Democrats fear his style may alienate voters and cost the party control of the Senate.

Disagreements in reporting

The reports agree that El-Sayed is campaigning on guaranteed health care and paid leave, and that Republicans are spending significantly to portray him as a radical. They also agree on the figures for Republican and Democratic spending in the Michigan Senate race as of Oct. 10. However, the specific wording of El-Sayed's dismissive response to a question about Iran or Israel posing a greater threat to the United States is only detailed in the full reports from ABC News and WKMG, where he is quoted as calling the question "dumb."

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports mention the specific figure of $63 million spent by Democrats in the Michigan Senate race. The full reports from ABC News and WKMG do not include the exact amount of money Republicans have spent on negative advertisements, stating only that it is "around $40 million."