Bernie Sanders says billionaire class is targeting Abdul El-Sayed

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lashed out at Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., on Saturday, saying Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary is not about him but about whether the “billionaire class” can stop progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Joined by progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Detroit Opera House rally, Sanders delivered his remarks to voters alongside El-Sayed, who will face Stevens in the Aug. 4 Michigan primary.

“With all due respect to Haley Stevens, everyone knows this is not a choice between her and Abdul,” Sanders said. “This is a choice between Abdul and the billionaire class. That’s what this election is about.”

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Sanders said wealthy donors and outside groups are pouring unprecedented sums into the race to beat El-Sayed, whom he supports as one of the leading progressive candidates running for Senate this term.

“With two weeks until the election, the billionaire class has already spent $50 million against him,” Sanders said. “I want everyone in the state to be here now, for people to turn on the TVs and see all these ads. I want you to ask yourself a simple question: Why are the richest people in the country spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat Abdul El-Sayed?”

Sanders claimed that outside groups outpaced El-Sayed’s campaign by a 12-to-1 margin, citing the spending glut as evidence that powerful interests see the progressive candidate as a threat.

Super PACs backing Stevens spent about $26.9 million on TV ads in the final five weeks of the primary, compared with about $2.1 million backing El-Sayed, according to AdImpact.

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Michigan U.S. Senator candidate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., has the support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. (Kristen Norman/AP Photo, File)

The Michigan Senate primary has emerged as one of the most closely watched Democratic Party contests of the 2026 cycle, underscoring the widening gap between the party’s progressive and establishment wings.

El-Sayed is backed by other prominent progressives, including Sanders and AOC, while Stevens has the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and recently received the backing of retired Sen. Gary Peters.

Stevens has represented Michigan’s 11th Congressional District since 2019 after serving on the Obama administration’s auto industry task force.

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The congresswoman has been in the spotlight on the campaign trail after several bizarre speeches went viral in recent days.

In a viral clip, Stevens was mocked online as critics compared his animated campaign speech to the classic “Saturday Night Live” sketch featuring Chris Farley’s “van by the river” character.

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. and progressive challenger Abdul El-Sayed in the hotly contested Michigan Democratic Senate primary. (Kristen Norman/AP Photo, File)

The viral moment also attracted renewed attention in a speech to Parliament in 2020; Stevens wore pink latex gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, when after her allotted time was up, the interim speaker repeatedly declared her “out of order” and banged the gavel.

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The Senate race became tense after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow ended her campaign earlier this month, leaving Stevens and El-Sayed locked in a head-to-head contest that many Democrats see as a proxy battle over the future direction of the party.

The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers in November.