Look Who Michigan Dems Have to Choose From for Senate: Extremist-Backed 'Physician' Who Isn't Physician and Crazy Woman
During a campaign, if you’re going viral for what you’re saying, it could be good or bad. If you’re going viral for how you said it, it’s almost universally a bad thing.
Case in point: Howard Dean.
Dean was a successful governor in Vermont and his insurgent campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination was one of the first effective uses of small-donation fundraising and social media to mobilize supporters. He later went on to run the Democratic National Committee, also with some success.
But what do you remember him for? Probably this:
Happy 20th anniversary to the Howard Dean scream!
Remember when this was too extreme to be presidential? pic.twitter.com/84r42f0t7o
— QENNY | THE SPOOKY LAWYER ON YOUTUBE (@AKBrews) January 18, 2024
I’m sure in his private life, he’s been a successful man along with a father and a physician. As for how we’ll remember him publicly, however, there’s no erasing the “Dean Scream” from the collective political consciousness.
Another case in point: Rep. Haley Stevens. She’s running for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan to replace the retiring Democrat Sen. Gary Peters. In a state where Donald Trump won twice and where former Rep. Mike Rogers is a very credible, accomplished candidate on the Republican side, it’s a rare state that will be hard to hold in these midterms.
Stevens is the normie Democrat pick for the seat. She’s within the envelope of electability, unlike far-left former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed. Yet, El-Sayed was winning a three-way race between Stevens and another leftist, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, until McMorrow dropped out because her campaign was struggling. I can’t imagine why:
This is Mallory McMorrow. She’s running for U.S. Senate in Michigan. This is how she entered the Democratic Party Convention
The theater kids are at it again… pic.twitter.com/GzQGNPyLYM
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 20, 2026
That leaves Stevens and El-Sayed battling it out in the Aug. 4 primary, which still means the race should be easily salvageable for Democrats if the normal pattern holds of a party in control of the White House and both branches of Congress facing serious headwinds in the midterms. Peters, sensing the danger El-Sayed poses to the party, endorsed Stevens on Monday, giving her another big push.
“Haley began her service to Michigan as a critical part of our team as President Obama and I fought to save 200,000 jobs — rescuing and helping the auto industry come roaring back. I’m proud that Haley was recognized as the most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress,” Peters said in a statement, according to Politico.
What could possibly go wrong here?
Remember what I said at the beginning about the issues with going viral for how you say something, not the content? Well, this is what was garnering hundreds of thousands of views on the Republican National Committee’s RNC Research X account in the hours following Peters’ endorsement:
In the Senate primary, Michigan Democrats have a choice between a candidate who wants to abolish prisons and campaigns with Hasan Piker and whatever Haley Stevens is doing. pic.twitter.com/UqZeXy2BoA
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 13, 2026
If the first thought was Chris Farley’s inimitable (until now, anyway) “living in a van down by the river” sketch on “Saturday Night Live,” you’re not alone. Here’s Siraj Hashmi, formerly of the Washington Examiner, with the winning comparison:
Matt Foley if he was trans https://t.co/OeBwtIa3Hl
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) July 13, 2026
And you’re really not listening to anything coming out of her mouth when she comes across like an awkward, crazy woman, are you? You’re just watching the crazy and wondering if she parks her campaign van down by the river. All I’ll say is that if this is what “a little bit of stick it to ’em” looks like, please, Rep. Stevens, keep sticking it to the Republicans. We’re begging you to.
As you may have noticed, too, this crazy woman isn’t the one with the craziest positions. That distinction belongs to Abdul El-Sayed, who has had run-ins with my two least favorite Hasans: Hasan Piker and Mehdi Hasan.
First is Piker, who El-Sayed campaigned with. He’s cheered assassination attempts against Donald Trump and rationalized the murder of Charlie Kirk. He’s also defended Hamas killing and raping innocent Israelis on Oct. 7. He said the CEO allegedly killed by Luigi Mangione had it coming because he was guilty of “social murder.” And he’s said of landlords: “Kill them. Kill those motherf***ers. Murder those motherf***ers in the street. Let the streets soak in their f***ing red capitalist blood, dude.”
El-Sayed said, during his appearance earlier in the campaign with Piker, that he was “not here to disavow people’s views.”
Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed says there is NOTHING that Hasan Piker has said that he disagrees with.
JOURNALIST: “Are there any views that Hasan holds that you disavow?”
EL-SAYED: “I’m not here to disavow people’s views…”
Reminder: Piker said “America deserved 9/11.” pic.twitter.com/8U2IzctPZR
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 7, 2026
El-Sayed also calls himself a “physician” despite the fact that he doesn’t actually hold a valid medical license, something even former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan — who usually, and quite reliably, has the worst take on everything — wasn’t going to let slip by:
HOST: You’re calling yourself a physician, you don’t have a valid state medical license in New York or Michigan…
EL-SAYED: “It’s not about whether or not I’m a physician or a doctor…”
HOST: “That’s a good line, but people would say it’s also about did you tell the truth?” pic.twitter.com/6v8vDvnGR2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 8, 2026
When even Mehdi Hasan calls you out on this, it’s probably time to give it up. (El-Sayed does have an M.D. from Columbia, but has never practiced or even done a residency, which is an issue when you’re telling voters you’re “a physician and epidemiologist.”)
What he is telling voters is what I would believe — that he loathes Israel and wants to defund the police. This kind of talk has also gotten him endorsements from prominent hard-left figures, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
So yeah, that’s a summation of the Democrats’ choices in Michigan: crazy cat lady who should be checking the labels on her prescription bottles and a lying extremist.
At least Stevens’ positions are within the window of electability if you read them, but not if you listen to how they’re being said. And if you think that doesn’t matter, just ask Howard Dean.
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