El-Sayed campaign distances itself from antisemitic ad but doesn’t denounce it

(Oct. 26, 2026 / JNS)

A campaign spokeswoman for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan and a former Detroit health director, distanced his campaign from an antisemitic advertisement supporting his candidacy but did not condemn its content.

“This ad is not affiliated in any way with the Abdul for Senate campaign,” spokeswoman Roxie Richner reportedly said in a statement. “Abdul is focused on pushing back against Trump’s agenda that is raising prices for Michiganders. No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign.”

The ad, paid for by Rebellion PAC, blames U.S. aid to Israel for rising grocery costs. It depicts a couple shopping for groceries and discussing setting aside money for Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Critics, including the Anti-Defamation League, condemned the ad, with the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, calling it a “case study in antisemitism.”

Democrats for Mike Rogers, a group supporting El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, called the campaign’s response “absolutely pathetic.”

“Abdul can’t condemn this disgusting antisemitic ad,” the group wrote. “It’s disqualifying.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition also criticized the campaign’s statement as “pathetic,” writing that he “Abdul El-Sayed spins and dodges the issue.”

The group compared the response to that of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), whom El-Sayed defeated in the Democratic primary. Stevens called the ad “fearmongering” and “wrong.”

“Do we need to lower costs by building more homes, securing people’s health care, and creating a fairer federal tax code? Yes, we do,” Stevens wrote. “How we do so is not by blaming the high costs of our goods on the only Jewish homeland in the world.”