Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., accused progressive Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of making ‘deeply sexist attacks’ against female opponents during a Wednesday interview, citing his criticism of Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as voters prepare for the state’s Aug. 4 primary.

Sexist Comments

Scholten told anchor Jake Tapper on CNN’s ‘The Lead’ that El-Sayed had disparaged Stevens’ intelligence and personality rather than focusing on policy disagreements. El-Sayed previously told Semafor that Stevens was ‘a suit with a large AIPAC account’ and suggested the pro-Israel group might teach her ‘how to string together two coherent sentences.’ Scholten pointed to El-Sayed’s rhetoric during his unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign against Whitmer, whose father previously served as president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

El-Sayed spokesperson Roxie Richner pushed back when Scholten first publicly raised concerns about his record with women. ‘Unless the congresswoman has specific accusations she would like to make, perhaps it’s better to avoid repeating throwaway talking points to push an unfounded narrative,’ Richner said to Semafor.

Campaign Controversy

Scholten said she was even more concerned by El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who said in 2019 that ‘America deserved 9/11.’ El-Sayed has defended appearing with Piker while distancing himself from the comment. ‘I give him credit for disavowing it after the fact, but the reality is he also didn’t have to choose to campaign with Hasan Piker,’ Scholten said. ‘To me, that’s a nonstarter.’

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.