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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Robert Mackey and Lauren Gambino

Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed says ‘ogre’ remark not directed at rival

Man at campaign event
Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign rally in Ferndale, Michigan, on Saturday. Photograph: Rebecca Cook/Reuters

The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said his comments that progressives need to put the head of an “ogre” on a pike was in reference to the Senator John Fetterman – not his opponent, Representative Haley Stevens.

In a televised debate on Monday, the final head-to-head before the state’s 4 August primary, the moderator asked El-Sayed whether he regretted his comments made in a Zoom meeting, in which, according to leaked audio published by Politico, he suggested that if “you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message”.

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