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Fox News Stars Openly Admire Abdul El-Sayed In Splashy New Ad
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Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is making a direct pitch to Republican voters in a new ad airing on conservative networks and featuring right-wing media personalities. And the minute-long spot, titled “Red Hat” and broadcast on Fox News and Newsmax, uses the networks’ own content against them, featuring clips of conservative pundits lavishing El-Sayed with praise and disparaging his Republican opponent Mike Rogers. It’s a move in keeping with the unbridled confidence of the El-Sayed campaign, which is turning its attention to poaching conservative voters after shoring up the support of national Democrats and ending intraparty arguments about his platform and electability. Standing in front of an American flag in an industrial warehouse, the progressive former public health official urges Republicans to look past what the talking heads — including those on the very networks the spot aired — are saying about him. “You might have heard a bit about me,” El-Sayed says in the ad. “The D.C. elites spent millions trying to blame me for things other people said.” The Democratic candidate argues that he and Republicans share some similar goals: getting money out of politics, lowering costs, defending free speech and releasing the government’s files on sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. He even offers an endorsement of the Trump-aligned “Make America Healthy Again” movement. The ad also features a news chyron in the style of Fox News cycling through words of praise for El-Sayed, including a line cribbed from an August Vanity Fair article which refers to him as a “capitalist and a patriot.” And, to back up his message, El-Sayed’s ad ends with clips of praise from conservative pundits and anchors, such as a clip of Fox News host Jesse Watters saying “you’ve got to respect Abdul, because he beat the machine.” “This guy is a force that Mike Rogers is going to have to deal with,” Watters is shown saying later on. In another clip from “Fox & Friends,” former Republican National Committee co-chair and network pundit Lara Trump calls the candidate “a good-looking guy” and a “great speaker.” The ad also features approving quotes from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Jessica Tarlov, formerly the sole left-leaning voice on Fox’s “Outnumbered” program. The spot also takes shots at Rogers, showing a clip of former Fox News personality and right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson saying on a recent episode of his podcast that he wouldn’t vote for the Republican “at gunpoint.” “For me, it’s Michigan first, and we can agree on that,” El-Sayed concludes. The ad buy comes just under two weeks before Election Day, as the Michigan Democrat continues to lead Rogers slightly in the polls. The Great Lakes State’s Senate race has emerged as one of the most expensive in its history — ad spending between the two candidates surpassed $180 million last week. Republicans throughout the campaign have sought to tie El-Sayed to radical political figures, such as leftist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, and paint his progressive platform as too liberal for Michigan voters. Rogers, in particular, has argued that El-Sayed is sympathetic to terrorists. The Michigan Democrat, for his part, has largely brushed off those attacks and argued on the campaign trail that he is singularly focused on issues such as access to healthcare and the rising cost of living. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.