As the three main Michigan Democratic candidates running for the Senate debated on Thursday, the influence of AIPAC spending and antisemitism in the highly competitive primary took center stage.During the one-hour debate, former Michigan health official Abdul El-Sayed differentiated himself from his two primary opponents — Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) — on the AIPAC issue.“I’m the only candidate on this stage that didn’t ask AIPAC for their support,” El-Sayed said of the American pro-Israel lobbying group. “I don’t think that our taxpayer dollars, which we pay every April, ought to be going to bomb children, to fund bombs and tanks for other countries when we’ve got kids who can’t afford basic things in our home.”
Stevens is heavily backed by AIPAC, while McMorrow receives support from a progressive pro-Israel advocacy group called J Street.
El-Sayed strongly opposes the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and U.S. intervention in Iran. Both conflicts are fueling progressives’ concerns about Israeli influence in American politics through extensive lobbying efforts.
Responding to a question about corporate donations, McMorrow said she has not taken any money from AIPAC.
