Advisor to Clyburn says El-Sayed can't disinvite Stevens from unity event

Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has asked Representative Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events to avoid distractions, according to The Guardian US and POLITICO. The request follows a public rupture between the progressive El-Sayed and the more moderate Stevens, whom he defeated in a bitter primary. El-Sayed told reporters that he does not want distractions and suggested others are more interested in making the race about things it is not about, while CBS News reports El-Sayed believes Stevens is intent on relitigating their primary.

The tension intensified after Stevens demanded that El-Sayed denounce and apologize for comments regarding Israel and an outside group's political advertisement that blames US support for Israel’s war in Gaza for higher prices, according to The Guardian US and CBS News. Additionally, The Guardian US reports that Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish, has campaigned for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

While the two were scheduled to appear together this Sunday at a Detroit church service, Antjuan Seawright, an advisor to Rep. Jim Clyburn, told The Hill that the invitation for Stevens still stands and that El-Sayed cannot disinvite her because the event is not El-Sayed's. POLITICO notes that the infighting occurs as Democrats attempt to unite behind El-Sayed to flip control of the Senate.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, The Guardian US, Haaretz, POLITICO, CBS News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.