Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has clarified that his controversial comment about putting the head of an "ogre" on a pike was in reference to US Senator John Fetterman, and not his opponent Haley Stevens.
During a televised debate on Monday, the final head-to-head before the state's 4 August primary, El-Sayed was asked about remarks made in a Zoom meeting, where he reportedly said: "Ideally you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden [it] starts to sound a lot different."
El-Sayed explained he was referring to Senator Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who he said "got elected on a set of values, and is now completely throwing those values in the mud." Fetterman and El-Sayed have previously clashed over the senator's support for Israel.
The primary contest, which will replace retiring senator Gary Peters, is seen as a proxy fight for the Democratic party's future, pitting progressive El-Sayed against moderate Stevens.