Michigan Democratic Senate primary race divides party
contributor Hugh Hewitt and Lawrence Jones discuss the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, highlighting the division between moderate Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens is backed by Sen. Peters, while El-Sayed has support from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. Hewitt predicts a Republican win in the general election due to the left’s potential dissatisfaction.
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Popular children’s YouTube educator “Ms. Rachel” faced criticism Sunday after a federal filing showed she gave $3,000 to Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign, supporting the progressive Democrat in a nationally watched primary increasingly divided over Israel.
The donation prompted National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Samantha Cantrell to warn parents about both figures, The New York Post reported.
“Abdul El-Sayed and Ms. Rachel are one and the same, forcing their socialist, they/them, anti-America agenda on our children,” Cantrell told The New York Post. “Parents should be worried when they head to the ballot box.”
Children’s YouTube star Ms. Rachel. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Rachel Griffin Accurso, who produces children’s content under the name, “Ms. Rachel,” was listed in a Federal Election Commission 48-hour notice dated July 19, according to the New York Post. The filing did not make clear whether the payment was a contribution or a loan.
The transaction connected Accurso, whose YouTube channel has more than 20 million subscribers, to El-Sayed, who has called for an arms embargo against Israel and accused the country of genocide in Gaza.
El-Sayed, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was asked during a July appearance on “Inside Politics Sunday” whether the United States should designate the Israeli government as a foreign terrorist organization.
El-Sayed has called Israel a “rogue state” and accused the country of committing genocide in Gaza. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
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“It’s certainly a rogue state,” El-Sayed said. “I mean, they did a genocide.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected genocide allegations, maintaining that its military targets Hamas and works to limit civilian casualties.
El-Sayed also held Michigan rallies in April with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who previously said “America deserved 9/11” and later apologized. When host Will Cain pressed El-Sayed about their association in May, the candidate rejected the suggestion that campaigning with Piker meant endorsing all his remarks.
“Because he said something one time, you think I automatically believe that,” El-Sayed said.
Ms. Rachel’s contribution comes as El-Sayed faces Rep. Haley Stevens in a Michigan Democratic Senate primary divided over Israel. (Getty Images)
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Accurso has kept her Gaza advocacy largely separate from her children’s programming. During an August PBS NewsHour interview, she defended speaking publicly about Palestinian children while responding to accusations that her advocacy promoted anti-Israel messaging.
“I think it’s sad to take someone’s dedication and love for all children and try and make that wrong,” Accurso said.
Accurso previously gave $3,500 each to Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, two congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who defeated Democratic incumbents in June, the New York Post reported.
Accurso’s husband, Aron Accurso, also gave $1,500 to Chevalier, according to FEC records.
The YouTuber has increasingly entered politics beyond campaign contributions. She told NBC News in March that she was working with lawyers and activists to close the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas after accusing the facility of “neglect and child abuse,” Digital reported.
She embraced the political label during the interview while explaining her immigration advocacy.
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“I am political,” Accurso said. “It’s political to believe that children are worthy of love and care, and that every child is equal, and that our care shouldn’t stop at what we look like, our family, at our religion, at a border.”
CoreCivic, which operates the Dilley facility, disputed Accurso’s allegations in a statement to Digital, saying it provides families with “safe, humane and compassionate care.”
Accurso continued her immigration advocacy in June by meeting with families outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, before traveling to Washington with letters and drawings from children in ICE custody to urge lawmakers to end family detention, according to The Washington Post.
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The Aug. 4 Michigan primary pits El-Sayed against Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. The pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC has spent nearly $30 million supporting Stevens, according to The Associated Press.
Digital reached out to El-Sayed and Accurso for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
