The Guardian · US news · Original story
Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed says ‘ogre’ remark not directed at rival
El-Sayed says in TV debate ‘ogre on a pike’ Zoom comment was in reference to John Fetterman, not Haley Stevens
The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said his comments that progressives need to put the head of an “ogre” on a pike was in reference to the US senator John Fetterman – not his opponent, Haley Stevens.
In a televised debate on Monday, the final head-to-head before the state’s 4 August primary, the moderator asked El-Sayed whether he regretted his comments made in a Zoom meeting, in which he said, according to leaked audio published by Politico: “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.”
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Robert Mackey and Lauren Gambino · Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 5:54 PM
US news | The Guardian
El-Sayed says in TV debate ‘ogre on a pike’ Zoom comment was in reference to John Fetterman, not Haley Stevens
The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said his comments that progressives need to put the head of an “ogre” on a pike was in reference to the US senator John Fetterman – not his opponent, Haley Stevens.
In a televised debate on Monday, the final head-to-head before the state’s 4 August primary, the moderator asked El-Sayed whether he regretted his comments made in a Zoom meeting, in which he said, according to leaked audio published by Politico: “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.”
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