Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime Democratic leader, just stabbed old ally Sen. Chuck Schumer in the back.
Warren, D-Mass., endorsed socialist Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s August 4 Democratic Senate primary on Monday, breaking openly from Schumer, D-N.Y., who is backing Rep. Haley Stevens in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters.
“Abdul is the only candidate in this race not taking corporate money, and he’s fighting to get money out of politics altogether,” Warren said. “And make no mistake — Abdul is the only candidate in this race who can build the grassroots movement needed to win in November. More money in your pocket, to get money out of politics and deliver ‘Medicare-for-all.’ Michigan, let’s get this done.”
She joins a growing army of socialists who have taken over the Democratic Party from the establishment.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and Rep. Ro Khanna all back El-Sayed.
“Schumer’s whole approach is that you get to go talk to the money people and then dole out their corporate money to help elect the people who are going to do the things that corporations want,” El-Sayed told Politico. “So, of course, they’re freaking out. They’re not freaking out because they think I’m going to lose. They’re freaking out because they think I’m going to win.”
El-Sayed, 41, has made opposition to U.S. aid to Israel the defining issue of his campaign, and old social media posts show he supports the “defund the police” movement. At a July 7 debate with Stevens, he accused her of being “bought off” by corporate interests.
A Tavern Research survey from July 6-7 showed El-Sayed and Stevens in a statistical tie, 41% to 42%.
Sen. John Fetterman, one of the few moderate Democrats remaining, warned last month that Michigan was “much more in play” for Republicans if El-Sayed won the primary. He has not made an endorsement.
The primary is August 4. Michigan has not elected a Republican senator since 2002.
If El-Sayed wins, it might be due for a change.