Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed may have hurt himself in his campaign with his demeaning comments toward Second Lady Usha Vance, according to a new report.
El-Sayed, a darling of the far left who is seeking Michigan’s open Senate seat, trashed Usha Vance after her husband, Vice President J.D. Vance, slammed El-Sayed for saying opposition to Sharia law was based on white supremacy, as noted by Newsmax.
“I’d love to go back in time and tell my papaw that there’s a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have Sharia law, but if you criticize it, you’re a white supremacist,” Vance said, using his nickname for his grandfather. “That’s not my papaw’s Democratic Party, my friends.”
El-Sayed had to go lower, asking on social media, “So do we think J.D. is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…,” according to the New York Post.
The outlet said the remark threatens to alienate the progressive wunderkind’s standing among Michigan’s 130,000 Indian-Americans, as well as female voters.
Michigan is third in the nation in female voter turnout at 69 percent.
“I have to admit, I kind of laughed,” Usha Vance said when asked about El-Sayed’s comment. “They have never been anything but incredibly loving.”
Usha Vance responds to Abdul El-Sayed’s dig about whether JD Vance would take her “back in time to meet Papaw.”
The second lady says she laughed off the far-left candidates comment about their personal lives, saying she’s always felt at home with her husband’s Ohio family.… pic.twitter.com/cRkinyUKgg
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 25, 2026
“I think Abdul has a Napoleon complex and he victimizes women to look tough instead of the actual men he claims to have a problem with,” an insider told the New York Post.
Vance is likely to respond Monday when he visits Michigan.
“For sure,” he’s going to come out swinging, state GOP party co-chair Sunny Reddy said.
“He’s going to see more reaction from the community,” he added.
Reddy said family members should be off limits.
“We may have differences. We attack each other. But going to the family and the kids is a disaster,” he noted. “They are not the one running.”
Reddy said the slight would cost El-Sayed support from middle-aged women, Indian-Americans, and other ethnic groups, and said Usha’s recent pregnancy should also be off-limits.
In an interview, El-Sayed had said, “What do you think is going through Usha’s head when [JD Vance] talks? She’s like, ‘Damn, I have to sleep with him.’”
El-Sayed’s racist swipe at Usha Vance is badly backfiring with Indian-Americans and women https://t.co/ulCrj9LM88 pic.twitter.com/Rx9EPlmaNy
— New York Post (@nypost) August 29, 2026
“I guess she’s pregnant so something is happening,” he said.
Reddy added, “enough is enough.”
The state party and Indian-American leaders demanded El-Sayed issue an apology.
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