NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The battle between the Democratic Party’s far-left flank and establishment wing spilled onto the stage Monday night during battleground Michigan’s fiery Senate debate.<\/p>\n The debate took place one week ahead of the pair\u2019s Aug. 4 primary battle, with both candidates using the final face-off to sharpen their competing arguments over who could best represent Michigan \u2014 and defeat Republican candidate, former Rep. Mike Rogers, in the November 3 general election.<\/p>\n During Monday night’s clash of the Democratic Party’s competing wings, El-Sayed doubled down on his “ogre on a pike” remark and declined to apologize, but clarified it was not specifically directed at Stevens but rather a different moderate Democrat in Congress. Meanwhile, El-Sayed also repeated his attacks on pro-Israel and corporate spending supporting Stevens, while he also rejected the “socialist” label some have given him, describing himself as a “just a capitalist who understands how capitalism works.”<\/p>\n Stevens, on the other hand, questioned what El-Sayed was “hiding” by not releasing his full tax returns, an attack she carried over from the pair’s first one-on-one debate earlier this month, and portrayed his rhetoric, outside income and national political ambitions as potential general-election liabilities when it came to taking on Rogers and trying to win the U.S. Senate seat they are vying for.<\/p>\n SWING-STATE POLL SPELLS TROUBLE FOR FAR LEFT AS SCHUMER-BACKED CANDIDATE DOMINATES WITH CRITICAL VOTING BLOCS<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., has abandoned his neutrality in Michigan’s high-stakes Democratic Senate primary, backing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, pictured left, as party leaders rally to stop progressive rival Abdul El-Sayed, pictured right, from winning the nomination.<\/span> (AP Photo\/Kristen Norman)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n El-Sayed stood by the substance of his controversial “ogre on a pike” remark when pressed by the moderator about whether he regretted the rhetoric, which earned him backlash from his own party, but clarified it was about Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., not Stevens as some had speculated.<\/p>\n “I was referring to a guy named John Fetterman,” El-Sayed said, accusing the Pennsylvania Democrat of getting elected on one set of values before “completely throwing those values in the mud.”<\/p>\n El-Sayed did not apologize for or retract the metaphor. Instead, he argued that he had previously pushed back against unkind treatment of Stevens, including after she was booed at a Michigan Democratic Party convention.<\/p>\n REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: THE REPUBLICAN-LED VOTE THAT REVEALED DEMOCRATS’ NEW DIVIDE ON ISRAEL<\/strong><\/p>\n Stevens later offered a pointed response: “Thank you for clarifying that you didn\u2019t call me an ogre.”<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber during votes on Nov. 10, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.<\/span> (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The controversy stemmed from comments El-Sayed made during a recent Zoom meeting with donors, Politico reported, adding that El-Sayed was discussing how to use his victory in Michigan\u2019s upcoming Aug. 4 primary and the November election to build a national platform to move the Democratic Party further left and support future primary challenges, such as against Fetterman.<\/p>\n “Ideally, you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message,” El-Sayed said, according to audio obtained by Politico. El-Sayed did not name Stevens in the recording; however, some Democrats interpreted the remark as referring to her. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., who has endorsed Stevens, called the remark a “violent, vulgar” threat and said candidates should be working to lower the political temperature.<\/p>\n Neera Tanden, a former Biden administration official who leads the left-wing think tank the Center for American Progress, connected the remark to broader accusations of sexism that have roiled the primary.<\/p>\n “Calling your female opponent an ogre you want to put on a pike is not beating the rap that this race has some serious sexism,” Tanden wrote on X.<\/p>\n Tens of millions of dollars in outside spending supporting Stevens became a central flashpoint, with the moderator repeatedly pressing the congresswoman on whether pro-Israel groups would influence her conduct in office.<\/p>\n Asked whether the more than $46 million in AIPAC-related spending cited by the moderator should concern voters that she would do the group\u2019s “bidding,” Stevens responded, “Absolutely not,” and defended her support for a two-state solution.<\/p>\n “I have been very clear, consistent and transparent,” Stevens said. “I want to see long-term peace.”<\/p>\n NEW YORK TIMES RAISES EYEBROWS BY REFERRING TO AIPAC AS ‘HARD-RIGHT’ PRO-ISRAEL GROUP<\/strong><\/p>\n El-Sayed argued that the spending exposed a fundamental difference between the candidates, claiming AIPAC-backed groups supported Stevens because “they know that she\u2019ll be a reliable vote.”<\/p>\n “The difference between us is $46 million of AIPAC spending,” El-Sayed said. “They\u2019ve set a record in this race to help elect my opponent.”<\/p>\n He then tied that spending directly to Stevens\u2019 recent vote supporting additional aid to Israel, accusing the Israeli government of working to “foreclose on the possibility of Palestinian self-determination.”<\/p>\n “I want your tax dollars spent in Michigan to provide schools in Michigan, to build health care in Michigan, to build roads in Michigan,” El-Sayed said. “And I think that money sent over there to kill kids and women is the worst use of our tax dollars. And yet that\u2019s exactly what $46 million in spending will buy you.”<\/p>\n El-Sayed later added that the United States should not be “fighting stupid wars that AIPAC wants us to fight in the first place.”<\/p>\n Stevens countered that outside groups were supporting both campaigns and accused El-Sayed of benefiting from a super PAC funded in part by his father-in-law.<\/p>\n Stevens continued to question El-Sayed\u2019s financial transparency, as she did in their debate earlier this month, accusing him of refusing to release his full tax returns while earning approximately $300,000 in outside income.<\/p>\n “You have not released your full tax returns \u2014 $300,000 in other income while you sat in the podcast chair and you hawked junk health care cures that RFK Jr. would thumbs up,” Stevens charged.<\/p>\n “You talk about getting money out of politics and putting money in people\u2019s pockets, but still, no one knows who\u2019s putting the money in your pocket,” she added, continuing a debate-long effort to portray El-Sayed as more interested in podcasts, high-profile political allies and building his national celebrity than doing the unglamorous work of representing Michigan.<\/p>\n El-Sayed responded that he had released his required financial disclosures, drawing a distinction between those filings and the full tax returns Stevens had demanded.<\/p>\n “We released all of our financial disclosures,” El-Sayed said, calling the issue “a distraction” before turning the transparency argument back on Stevens and questioning the donors behind outside organizations supporting her campaign.<\/p>\n Stevens described herself as “the only non-millionaire in this race” and argued that El-Sayed\u2019s finances could give Republicans additional material to use against him in November.<\/p>\n “What are the Republicans going to uncover in the general election that they will use against him?” she asked.<\/p>\n Asked to identify the most important thing Senate Democrats were failing to do, El-Sayed immediately targeted the legislative filibuster and the 60-vote threshold it often imposes.<\/p>\n “I oppose the filibuster,” El-Sayed said. “I think the filibuster has been anti-democratic for a lot of reasons.”<\/p>\n TRUMP DEMANDS THUNE KEEP SENATE IN SESSION UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Capitol dome is illuminated as the House of Representatives returns to Washington to vote to reopen the governemnt Wednesday, November 12, 2025.<\/span> (Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n El-Sayed argued that eliminating the filibuster would help Democrats pass the PRO Act, which would expand union-organizing and collective-bargaining protections, impose tougher penalties for labor-law violations and override state right-to-work restrictions on mandatory union fees. He said it could also clear a path for stronger antitrust enforcement, which El-Sayed said needs to be more aggressive, as well as a wealth tax on billionaires and Medicare for All.<\/p>\n “Right now, the biggest risks to our democracy are the filibuster \u2014 it\u2019s anti-democratic in the Senate \u2014 and money in politics,” he said.<\/p>\n The candidates also battled over the future of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with Stevens calling ICE a “rogue agency” while El-Sayed labeled it “tyrannical” and called for abolishing it altogether.<\/p>\n Stevens said she was leading an effort in Congress to redirect $70 billion allocated to ICE toward health care, food assistance and local communities. “Not a penny more for this rogue agency that is wreaking havoc,” Stevens said, accusing ICE of abusing its power and frightening immigrant families.<\/p>\n An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent stands before a large American flag. ICE is expected to ramp up enforcement operations following the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 Haitians.<\/span> (Photo by Charly Triballeau\/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile, El-Sayed accused Stevens of hypocrisy, alleging that she had previously voted four times to increase ICE funding and had praised its personnel.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve said that we need to abolish ICE,” El-Sayed said. “ICE is about normalizing paramilitary force on our streets.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n Pressed on whether the phrase “abolish ICE” carried the same political baggage as “defund the police,” El-Sayed argued that the government could still enforce immigration laws and secure the southern border through a replacement agency.<\/p>\n He escalated the criticism moments later, calling ICE “a tyrannical agency.”<\/p>\n “I think there is no way to get past that except to undo the agency and then build from scratch,” El-Sayed said.<\/p>\n Stevens rejected his approach as focused more on rhetoric than governing.<\/p>\n “Complaints and slogans aren\u2019t solutions,” she said, pointing to her visit to an ICE detention facility and her efforts to change the agency through Congress.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1200\/675\/haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed-split.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nEl-Sayed confirms Fetterman was the \u2018ogre,\u2019 declines to apologize<\/h2>\n
![\"Sen.](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1200\/675\/fetterman-november-10-2025.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nAIPAC money and Israel fuel fierce confrontations<\/h2>\n
Stevens presses El-Sayed over unreleased tax returns and outside income<\/h2>\n
El-Sayed brands the Senate filibuster \u2018anti-democratic\u2019<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nICE clash exposes sharp divide between the Democratic rivals<\/h2>\n
![\"ICE](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1200\/675\/ice-agent-american-flag-haitian-tps-enforcement-ohio-springfield.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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