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Abdul El-Sayed targets Usha Vance, Natalie Harp in posts

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed faced criticism after posting about Usha Vance and Natalie Harp. Usha Vance responded dismissively, while reactions from Republicans and others highlighted concerns about El-Sayed's remarks.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 24–25, 2026 Published 1h ago

El-Sayed's Posts About Usha Vance and Natalie Harp Draw Backlash

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan running against Republican Mike Rogers, has come under fire for social media posts targeting Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, and Natalie Harp, an aide to President Trump.

El-Sayed's post about Usha Vance was made on Saturday, following remarks by JD Vance at a rally in Ohio. In that rally, Vance criticized El-Sayed for his stated adherence to Sharia law, saying, "I would love to go back in time and tell my papaw that there is a man who claims to stand for working people, who says not only should we have sharia law, but if you criticize it, you are a white supremacist."

El-Sayed responded on X with a post that read: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no..." The post was seemingly in reference to Usha Vance's Indian ethnicity.

The post drew immediate reactions from several figures. Former Florida state Rep. Ben Graber commented, "El Sayed is now attacking Wives [sic] of US leaders? What a guy." Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, asked, "Why does Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed just assume that all White midwestern grandparents are racist?" Commentator Ryan Girdusky said, "If you're a rural White American living in Michigan, just remember El-Sayed believes you're a racist." An X account run by Democrats supporting Mike Rogers stated, "This is why there were ads in the primary correctly highlighting how sexist and misogynistic Abdul is. He has so much contempt for women. If you're over the politics of division. Reject Abdul El-Sayed." Others accused El-Sayed of being racist himself, with journalist Emily Schrader calling him a "racist creep."

El-Sayed's campaign did not return a comment request from Fox News Digital asking him to explain what he was implying.

Usha Vance's Response

Usha Vance responded to El-Sayed's remark during a Fox and Friends interview on Tuesday. She laughed and dismissed the post, then spoke warmly about JD Vance's family.

"Someone showed it to me (El-Sayed's remark), and I admit I kind of laughed," she said. "Because yes, I've never met JD's mamaw and papaw." She continued, "But I do know and love the children that they raised. And they have never been anything but incredibly loving." She added, "His aunt is like a second mother to me. I have to think that, if they raised children like that, they would've been loving as well."

The Gateway Pundit, which reported on her response, described it as "perfect" and noted that Usha would make an incredible First Lady if JD becomes President.

Separate Post to Natalie Harp

In addition to the post about Usha Vance, El-Sayed made a separate post directed toward Natalie Harp, an aide to President Trump. That post referenced Trump blasting El-Sayed at a rally for campaigning with Hasan Piker, who has said "America deserved 9/11." The details of El-Sayed's post to Harp were not fully detailed in the reports.

Fox News Digital reached out to the vice president's office and a representative for Usha Vance but did not receive a response.

How each outlet told it

New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC

Framing: Headline focuses on El-Sayed targeting both Usha Vance and Natalie Harp, emphasizing his actions. It leaves out the content of Usha Vance's response. — Critical of El-Sayed, using terms like "controversial socialist," "attack,"" and implying misogyny through quotes. The tone is accusatory.

Facts Included:

Abdul El-Sayed is a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan running against Republican Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed's post about Usha Vance and JD Vance's papaw was made on Saturday, after Vance slammed him for his adherence to Sharia law during a rally in Ohio.
El-Sayed's exact post: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no..."
El-Sayed's post was seemingly in reference to the second lady's Indian ethnicity.
El-Sayed's campaign did not return a comment request from Fox News Digital.
Reactions from figures including Ben Graber, Brandon Gill, Ryan Girdusky, Emily Schrader, Matt Whitlock, Tudor Dixon, and an X account run by Democrats supporting Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed made a separate post directed toward Natalie Harp, an aide to President Trump.
El-Sayed's post to Harp referenced Trump blasting him at a rally for campaigning with Hasan Piker, who has said 'America deserved 9/11.'
Fox News Digital reached out to the vice president's office and a representative for Usha Vance but did not receive a response.

Read the source article →

The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC

Framing: Emphasizes Usha Vance's response as "perfect" and calls El-Sayed's remark "nasty," focusing on her reaction. Leaves out that El-Sayed is a Senate candidate and the broader context of the exchange. — Celebratory and approving of Usha Vance's response; uses words like "perfect," "wonderful," "incredible," and "cruel remark."

Facts Included:

Usha Vance responded to Abdul El-Sayed's remark about her and JD Vance.
El-Sayed's post: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no..."
El-Sayed's remark was in response to JD Vance's comments at an event in Middletown, Ohio, on Friday.
JD Vance's quote about telling his papaw about a man who supports sharia law and calls critics white supremacists.
Usha Vance was asked during a Fox and Friends interview on Tuesday about El-Sayed's remark.
Usha Vance laughed and dismissed the remark, then spoke about JD's family's kindness.
Usha Vance said she never met JD's mamaw and papaw, but knows and loves the children they raised.
Usha Vance said JD's aunt is like a second mother to her.
Commentary that Usha Vance would make an incredible First Lady if JD becomes President.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimAbdul El-Sayed is a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan running against Republican Mike Rogers.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's post about Usha Vance and JD Vance's papaw was made on Saturday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC, The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's post: 'So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no...'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC, New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's post was seemingly in reference to the second lady's Indian ethnicity.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC, The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's remark was in response to JD Vance's comments at an event in Middletown, Ohio, on Friday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimJD Vance said at an event in Middletown, Ohio: 'I would love to go back in time and tell my papaw that there is a man who claims to stand for working people, who says not only should we have sharia law, but if you criticize it, you are a white supremacist.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance was asked on Fox and Friends on Tuesday about El-Sayed's remark.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance laughed and dismissed El-Sayed's remark, then spoke about JD's family's kindness.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance said: 'Someone showed it to me (El-Sayed's remark), and I admit I kind of laughed.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance said: 'Because yes, I've never met JD's mamaw and papaw.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance said: 'But I do know and love the children that they raised. And they have never been anything but incredibly loving.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimUsha Vance said: 'His aunt is like a second mother to me. I have to think that, if they raised children like that, they would've been loving as well.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimCommentary: 'Should JD become President, Usha will make an incredible First Lady.'	ConfidenceLow	StatusSingle-source via The Gateway Pundit as of Aug 25, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's campaign did not return a comment request from Fox News Digital.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed made a separate post directed toward Natalie Harp, an aide to President Trump.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC
ClaimEl-Sayed's post to Harp referenced Trump blasting him at a rally for campaigning with Hasan Piker, who has said 'America deserved 9/11.'	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC
ClaimFox News Digital reached out to the vice president's office and a representative for Usha Vance, but did not receive a response.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via New York Post as of Aug 24, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: New York Post, The Gateway Pundit 17 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-25