Stevens sets conditions for unity event with El-Sayed ahead of election

A reported joint rally ahead of the Nov. 3 election to unify supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham will more than likely be a visit to a Black church in Detroit and not an event widely open to the public or press, although El-Sayed is set to campaign with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina on Sunday.

El-Sayed’s campaign announced Friday afternoon that Clyburn —  one of Stevens’ most prominent supporters in the August primary, which she ultimately lost to El-Sayed — will join the Democratic nominee for a Souls to the Polls event Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press reported late Thursday evening that a rally would commence on Sunday featuring El-Sayed, Stevens and Clyburn together. As an icon of the civil rights movement, Clyburn’s appearance was seen as a way to shore up support from the Black community that preferred Stevens over El-Sayed in August.

AP also reported that the event would happen at a Detroit church.

Those plans were apparently still in flux on Friday, and the existence of two separate appearances with Clyburn was new information released Friday. 

When Michigan Advance inquired about the two separate stops, neither El-Sayed’s campaign nor Stevens’ press team would talk about the events on the record.

Described as more of a joint appearance than an actual rally, the stop bringing El-Sayed and Stevens together was placed in doubt after the congresswoman released a conditional statement in which she said she had been told El-Sayed would condemn an outside political ad that some found to be antisemitic.

El-Sayed’s campaign had no comment about Stevens’ response issued Friday morning, in which she also said she expected him to apologize for past statements made during the campaign.

On the eve of the eve of the eve of our BIG and important election, a unifying moment has arrived, our democratic nominee for U.S Senate disavows the Rebellion PAC ad made by Hasan Piker’s uncle that claims Jews are responsible for America’s economic woes. We have learned from party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media that he has.

On Sunday I will join with the Great Democratic leader, Jim Clyburn and Dr El Sayed for a church service in the beautiful city of Detroit.

The political coalition of Black and Jewish voices that have carried Michigan and this country through so many storms to the righteous path of liberal democracy and equal opportunity for all will ring out. Full statement here:

— Haley Stevens (@HaleyforMI) October 30, 2026

CNN reported on Friday that the joint appearance’s status was “tenuous” and that it was negotiated in part by Michigan Democrats and Stevens’ fiance, Jason Turkish, who made headlines this week by saying he would vote for El-Sayed’s opponent, Republican Mike Rogers, instead.

That event was put into doubt on Friday following a statement from Stevens, which received immediate backlash among some Democrats because it demanded that El-Sayed condemn an advertisement paid for a group outside of El-Sayed’s campaign.

Stevens hailed the fact that the two former rivals were coming together soon in a show of unity, but positioned that appearance as having conditions. Stevens said she expected El-Sayed to forcefully condemn an ad from RebellionPAC, led by The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur. Initially created for Uygur’s unsuccessful 2024 run for the White House, the ad attempts to connect high prices on things like groceries to defense spending for Israel. 

Many Jewish Michiganders and their allies, who have been critical of El-Sayed’s rhetoric on Israel, pointed to the ad as invoking an antisemitic trope and called on El-Sayed to condemn it. Stevens and her fiance, Turkish, had been part of that wave of condemnation.

“For days, Abdul’s only answer to the Rebellion PAC advertisement … was that his campaign was ‘not affiliated’ with it,” Stevens wrote in her statement issued Friday. “The chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League called it ‘a case study in antisemitism.’ A disclaimer is not a condemnation and everyone in my community knows the difference. I have learned from Democratic Party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media, that Dr. El-Sayed has heard the deep concerns of the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in this campaign, formally condemning that ad for what it is. That is why I accepted Congressman Clyburn’s invitation to appear with Abdul on Sunday. I urge voters and the press to confirm it with Abdul directly.”

Condemnation against the ad came from a wide swath of voices, including those in Democratic circles, such as U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), and also Rogers’ campaign.

El-Sayed’s team had previously said that no outside entity speaks for his campaign, not Uygur or Hasan Piker, a controversial pro-Palestinian Twitch streamer who has been the focus of criticism leveled at El-Sayed down the stretch. Uygur, who is Piker’s uncle, has since defended the ad.

This is a defining moment for national media. If you see any “reporter” saying @RebellionPac ad blames Jews for price of groceries, that person is lying to you on purpose. It’s about Israel and never blames anyone for the price of groceries. This is what propaganda looks like.

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) October 30, 2026

Stevens’ statement went on to say that the ad did not invent the argument Uygur was trying to make, and instead blamed it on comments El-Sayed “has made in his own words throughout the campaign: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, healthcare, and childcare.”

“The standard here is simple. If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start,” Stevens wrote. “I therefore expect him to apologize for those statements as well. Abdul promises to get money out of politics. He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything that Michigan cannot afford. And it is my hope and expectation that, out of the same respect for Michigan’s Black community, he will take down his own advertisement featuring white Christian nationalist Tucker Carlson, an insult to the congregation that will welcome us on Sunday.”

Aside from the RebellionPAC ad, the El-Sayed campaign did release an ad featuring Carlson, but only in a clip from his show in which he said he “wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.” Carlson did not appear in the ad as a surrogate of El-Sayed’s campaign. The ad also featured Fox News hosts including Jesse Watters complimenting El-Sayed as someone who “beat the machine.”

As reported by CNN, Clyburn and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) had acted as diplomats between El-Sayed and Stevens to organize the church rally on Sunday. However, the Souls to the Polls event featuring Clyburn and El-Sayed was well in the works before the agreement to bring Stevens and El-Sayed together was reached. It was also reported that Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel was part of the negotiations with Stevens’ team and Turkish.

The party did not respond to a request for comment on Hertel’s involvement at the time of publication. This story will be updated if a response received.