Arabic version: فانس يهاجم السيد في سباق مجلس الشيوخ بميشيغان

According to BBC News, US Vice-President JD Vance has entered Michigan’s closely fought Senate contest, calling Democratic newcomer Abdul El-Sayed “evil” while campaigning for Trump ally Mike Rogers at a rally in a Detroit suburb.

Vance repeatedly described El-Sayed, who is Muslim, as divisive and said he was trying to “destroy” the country. He also told the candidate to “keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth” after El-Sayed appeared to suggest that Vance’s late grandfather would not accept Second Lady Usha Vance, who is Hindu.

The vice-president linked El-Sayed to controversial far-left influencer and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, with whom El-Sayed campaigned during the primary. Piker once suggested the US “deserved” the attacks in New York and Washington. El-Sayed did not make that statement and has since distanced himself from Piker.

In an interview with CNN later on Monday, El-Sayed accused the Trump administration of pursuing “evil” policies, including taking healthcare from working people for tax breaks for billionaires. He also criticised higher grocery and gas costs, trade wars and war abroad. El-Sayed said his earlier remarks about the Vance family were intended to show that Vance supports a political philosophy under which some people are considered more American than others.

The Michigan race is among the highest-profile contests of the upcoming midterm elections in a battleground state won by former President Joe Biden in 2020 and Donald Trump in 2024. A Michigan firm, Epic-MRA, released a survey earlier in the week suggesting El-Sayed held a narrow four-point lead over Rogers, a former law enforcement officer with extensive political experience.