A black school board member supporting Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens told the congresswoman’s opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, to stop speaking and playing Arabic music on the campaign trail, inflaming racial tensions in one of the nation’s most contentious Senate primaries.
In a viral video circulating on social media, Farmington school board member Angie Smith explained why she backs Stevens over El-Sayed.
“We need someone that can represent all of us, not just one race, but all races,” Smith said at a campaign event. “I am supporting Haley Stevens because she’s that candidate.”
The individual behind the camera pressed Smith, who was first elected to the school board in 2016, for clarification.
“When you say you know not just for one, what do you mean by that?” he asked.
Smith, a single mother of three daughters, doubled down.
“The other candidate seems to be … doesn’t work a room. You have to know how to work the room. Don’t come out speaking only Arabic. Don’t come out with your Arabic music on,” Smith said. “Represent everyone.”
“You know, I’m the mother of a lesbian. I’m Puerto Rican and Cherokee, with a grandfather that was a white man from Ireland. Represent us all. Don’t just represent one ethnicity or one race,” she added.
Farmington school board member Angie Smith says she’s backing Stevens because she believes she will represent everyone, “not just one race… You have to know how to work the room, don’t just come in here speaking Arabic, don’t come out with your Arabic music on.” pic.twitter.com/L6VYip6Xft
— Sam Robinson (@samueljrob) July 24, 2026
The criticism of El-Sayed — a Muslim Democratic socialist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — infuriated leftists.
“This is insanely racist,” left-wing commentator Mehdi Hasan wrote on X. “Not only should this Angie Smith be asked to apologize but @HaleyforMI should be asked to disown and condemn these racist remarks about @AbdulElSayed and Arab-Americans.”
Leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said America “deserved” 9/11, also criticized the viral exchange.
“This is not who we are as America. Especially sad to see it in the Democratic Party primary,” Piker said.
The flareup comes as Stevens and El-Sayed barnstorm Michigan, competing for support from crucial Democratic voting blocs, including Black and Muslim voters. With the party’s far-left wing behind El-Sayed, establishment Democrats have increasingly consolidated behind Stevens in the campaign’s homestretch.
On Friday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) endorsed Stevens.
“Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever,” Whitmer said in a video posted to X.
The congresswoman, who recently went viral for her quirky “stick it to them” slogan, celebrated the endorsement, calling Whitmer “a champion for our state” who understands “the stakes of this race.”
Following the high-profile endorsement, Stevens’s odds of winning the Democratic primary on prediction market Polymarket rose from 21% to 36%.
Michigan’s Democratic primary is August 4.
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