JD Vance spends roughly half of his speech attacking Abdul El-Sayed at Michigan rally: ‘You deserve better than a little weasel’

During a campaign stop in Michigan, U.S. Vice President JD Vance targeted Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, the former public health official battling former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers. Vance spent about half his speech attacking El-Sayed’s viewpoints and background.

“You deserve better than a little weasel who should shut his mouth and show a little gratitude to the country that gave him everything,” Vance said. “Let’s remind the entire country that Michigan belongs to those who love the United States of America, not those who hate it.”

On the other hand, Vance endorsed Rogers: “You’re not going to always agree with him on every issue. But he knows his job is to fight for you every single day. On the flip side, you have one of the worst people running in the history of the United States of America.”

During the campaign, Vance’s speech didn’t focus on the economy, gas prices, tariffs, and the ongoing war with Iran. Nonetheless, his visit underscores the importance Michigan holds for Republicans.

Vance opposes El-Sayed’s advocacies

Vance also said El-Sayed represents the Democratic Party testing its most extreme ideas in a sensible Midwestern state, referring to El-Sayed’s views on energy and defunding the police. “They’re testing whether you accept someone who says that we should pass the Green New Deal, even if it means destroying our auto industry,” Vance said. “Will you accept somebody who says we have to abandon Detroit’s most vulnerable citizens, black and white, to the criminals rather than empowering our police to go after those criminals?”

After George Floyd’s killing in 2020, El-Sayed often called for shifting some police funding to services like healthcare, schools, and housing. However, he told The Detroit News he “actually never, never called for defunding,” saying he wanted to focus on preventing crime in the first place. As for the Green New Deal, El-Sayed has long advocated for zero-carbon emissions that drive climate change. However, there is no exact mandate on automakers on when they should cut the use of fossil fuels.

Elsewhere, El-Sayed later responded to Vance during a speech in Marquette, calling himself a wolverine, not a weasel, and saying he graduated from the University of Michigan. “You can take your Buckeye and shove it somewhere else,” he said of Vance.  El-Sayed was campaigning with US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as part of a swing through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  “In America, we don’t discriminate against people for who they love, how they identify, how they pray, the color of their skin,” he said. “We believe in an America big enough for all of us. So don’t you dare come from Ohio to lecture me about America.”