El Sayed swings back at Vance after he called him ‘very, very evil’

Michigan Senate Democratic nominee Abdul el Sayed targeted Vice President JD Vance on Monday for calling him “very, very evil” at a Detroit rally. Vance made the statement during the Sterling Heights rally as he ripped into el Sayed for going after Israel over its military campaign against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in response to an attack on a Michigan synagogue earlier this year. At the time, El Sayed said the antisemitic attack was without justification, but said “hurt people hurt people” and “violence is a cycle” after a Lebanese-born suspect, upset at Israel over the war, rammed the synagogue with his car. When pressed about Vance’s “very, very evil” characterization, el Sayed said during a CNN interview that the vice president’s positions on a range of issues, such as data centers, wars, and the economy, were “evil.” “Let me tell you what’s evil,” el Sayed said. “Evil is the idea of starting wars when there’s peace. Evil is the idea of stripping away people’s healthcare when they absolutely have no other option. What’s evil is to do that, so that you can pass a tax cut for billionaires.”“What’s evil is putting a data center that people don’t want in their backyard, to spite them. What’s evil is corrupting yourself because you want a little bit more power,” he added.El Sayed holds a skeptical view of data centers, which power AI and the technology grid. He has endorsed, as “a really good way forward,” Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) proposal for the government to control over half of the largest AI companies, put a one-time 50% tax on their stock, and give Washington direct influence over corporate decision-making. On healthcare, the Michigan candidate wants to eliminate medical debt and institute Medicare for All. He has been targeted for appearing to concede that the middle class, or those earning under $1 million, will face higher taxes to finance his progressive healthcare model. El Sayed also supports a wealth tax on those earning over $100 million, along with a capital gains tax hike, a personal income tax hike, and the elimination of corporate tax breaks. Aside from el Sayed’s attack on Vance over data centers and healthcare, the Senate candidate ripped the vice president for “starting wars when there’s peace,” as he has favored a more isolationist-leaning stance on foreign policy issues, denouncing the war in Iran. The battle between the two men erupted Monday, when Vance used the Detroit rally to target el Sayed for appearing to imply the vice president would have never introduced his wife to his grandfather because of her Indian heritage.OBAMA SUMMONED TO ACTION AS GOP WIDENS CASH ADVANTAGEAfter telling the Senate hopeful to “keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth,” Vance went after el Sayed for how he responded to the Temple Israel attack. “Reject the people who would defend the killer rather than the schoolchildren,” Vance told attendees. “Abdul el Sayed made an apology for the very people who would perpetrate violence against hundreds of innocent American schoolchildren. You’ve got to ask yourself if he’s willing to empathize not with the children who almost had their lives destroyed at the most innocent and what should be the safest place in the world, their school, what is he going to do when he goes to Washington, D.C., when the cameras aren’t on?”