Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Paid for by the United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC that has poured roughly $30 million into defeating Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, this spot brands El-Sayed "a dangerous choice" by citing his past criticism of Barack and Michelle Obama, part of the same broader messaging arc UDP has used across multiple ads accusing him of "disrespecting women" and "attacking the Obamas." The ad draws on a 2010 op-ed in which El-Sayed called Michelle Obama's childhood obesity initiative "uninspired" and "commendable, if ineffectual," material Bridge Michigan's fact-checking found to be rooted in policy critique rather than personal disrespect. El-Sayed's campaign has called the characterization misleading, and civil rights advocates, including a Palestinian American school board trustee who publicly pressed rival Haley Stevens to denounce the ads, have argued the "dangerous" framing echoes Islamophobic tropes given El-Sayed's identity as a Muslim and Arab American candidate seeking to become the first ever elected to the U.S. Senate. The spot lands amid record-breaking outside spending in the race, with UDP's investment marking the largest sum the group has ever put into a single congressional primary.
This is part of Jim Heath's Campaign Ads '26 project, building a permanent public archive of 2026 campaign ads, the money behind them, and the attacks voters may never see in their own state.
Paid for by the United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC that has poured roughly $30 million into defeating Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, this spot brands El-Sayed "a dangerous choice" by citing his past criticism of Barack and Michelle Obama, part of the same broader messaging arc UDP has used across multiple ads accusing him of "disrespecting women" and "attacking the Obamas." The ad draws on a 2010 op-ed in which El-Sayed called Michelle Obama's childhood obesity initiative "uninspired" and "commendable, if ineffectual," material Bridge Michigan's fact-checking found to be rooted in policy critique rather than personal disrespect. El-Sayed's campaign has called the characterization misleading, and civil rights advocates, including a Palestinian American school board trustee who publicly pressed rival Haley Stevens to denounce the ads, have argued the "dangerous" framing echoes Islamophobic tropes given El-Sayed's identity as a Muslim and Arab American candidate seeking to become the first ever elected to the U.S. Senate. The spot lands amid record-breaking outside spending in the race, with UDP's investment marking the largest sum the group has ever put into a single congressional primary.
This is part of Jim Heath's Campaign Ads '26 project, building a permanent public archive of 2026 campaign ads, the money behind them, and the attacks voters may never see in their own state.
