JD Vance stumps for Michigan GOP; swipes at El-Sayed for wife comments

Vice President JD Vance was back in Michigan for a fourth time in the last two years on Monday to stump for Republican candidates
While in Sterling Heights, Vance argued Republicans are a “big tent party” and Democrats are trying to divide the country
He also took several swipes at Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, including for comments he made about Vance’s wife

Vice President JD Vance was in Michigan on Monday making the pitch to supporters that Republicans must win the state’s open US Senate seat, casting the race as a battle between good and “terrible evil.”

With just over two months until the 2026 midterm elections, Vance was joined in Sterling Heights by a number of Republican candidates — including US Senate nominee Mike Rogers and US Rep. John James, Republicans’ gubernatorial pick.

Rogers’ race against Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic US Senate nominee, took much of the focus Monday, with nearly every candidate speaking on stage mentioning him in some way.

Vance painted El-Sayed as “a man who has sympathy and compassion for people who share his religion, but have nothing for people who don’t,” an effort to tie him back to remarks made in the aftermath of the March attack on West Bloomfield’s Temple Israel.

Immediately following the attack, El-Sayed released a statement saying that there was no justification for the attack but included the words “hurt people hurt people.” The adage caused ire among some Jewish Democrats, including Attorney General Dana Nessel.

El-Sayed apologized during Saturday’s Democratic Party nominating convention in Lansing for any hurt caused by his words. He also pushed back on Vance labeling him as “evil,” saying that evil “is making people pay more for groceries and gas while pushing for trade wars and an actual war” in a statement Monday.

“What I am asking you is to remember that the same guy who defends literal terrorism is maybe not going to have your best interest at heart when he gets to Washington DC,” Vance said of the choice between El-Sayed and Rogers.

Vance — as well as Rogers — also took a swipe at El-Sayed for comments the Democratic candidate had made about Vance’s wife, speculating whether Vance’s white grandfather would approve of the interracial marriage.

“I actually think that the people of Michigan think it’s kind of weird when you talk about another guy’s wife,” Vance said, later concluding: “Whatever you want to talk about, Abdul, keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth because she’s way out of your league.”

This was Vance’s fourth visit to Michigan during the Trump administration’s second term, including two visits in 2025 where he toured manufacturing facilities in Bangor Township and Howell.

In March, Vance also appeared in Auburn Hills to remark on the economy and job growth in Michigan, assuring voters that high gas prices at the time were just a “blip.”

During that visit, AAA reported the average cost per gallon of gasoline across Michigan was $3.87. As of Monday, AAA reports the average cost per gallon of gasoline across the state is now $4.15.

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In Monday’s prepared remarks, Vance didn’t mention affordability or gas prices, instead touting the Trump administration’s efforts to crackdown on “fraud in the trucking industry” — which was announced earlier that day — and to push for electing Republicans up and down the ballot this fall.

Here are some of the takeaways from Vance’s Monday speech.

A focus on trucking

Both Vance and Sean Duffy, the US Transportation secretary, used Monday’s remarks to tout news made earlier in the day regarding the closure of more than 100 trucking schools across the United States for alleged fraud.

At a Detroit press conference earlier Monday, Duffy accused these schools of allowing people to pass their tests even if they don’t speak English. The Department of Transportation, he added, is taking steps to shutter another 160 schools for certifying insufficiently trained drivers.

In Sterling Heights, Duffy didn’t go into as much detail about the move, but told the crowd that “a lot of illegals have come into this country… and they’ve been hurting Americans on American roads.”

Earlier this year, the Transportation Department claimed that truckers with non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses — a category held by foreign nationals authorized to work in the United States who do not have permanent residency — had caused at least 17 crashes in 2025, resulting in 30 deaths.

Vance later added that scrutiny of the nation’s trucking industry “is about restoring the basic principle that if you want to drive a big truck on America’s roads, you ought to be able to speak English.”

“You ought to be a legal resident of the United States of America, and you ought to have basic qualifications — because trucking is too important to let it go to foreign fraudsters,” he added.

A big midterm push

Much of Monday’s visit was used to support the campaigns of other Republican candidates on the ballot, including attorney general candidate Doug Lloyd and Mike Bouchard Jr., who’s running for James’ soon-to-be-vacant 10th US House District seat.

Lloyd, the Eaton County prosecutor, will face off against Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit in November.

Addressing voters Monday, Lloyd decried current Attorney General Dana Nessel as being “the lawyer for progressive political causes” while positioning himself as someone in support of “fair law, not lawfare.”

“We need a career prosecutor to be the people’s lawyer, not a career political activist,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Doug Lloyd. I need you to join me in our fight to end lawfare, stop the political stunts and bring back law and order.”

While noting he would represent all Michiganders, Lloyd was one of the few Republicans on stage Monday to not overtly make a push for centrist Democrats to support his campaign — a somewhat common refrain as Republicans throughout the day painted themselves as the party of “common sense.”

Also in attendance Monday were state House Speaker Matt Hall, US Rep. Lisa McClain and Andrew Ferguson, chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

Hall, R-Richland Township, touted work done at both the state and federal levels to end taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security as proof of what Republicans could do should they keep — or grow — their control of the state Legislature and Congress.

“Together, we will work with President Trump to cut waste, fraud and abuse, unleash American energy, make our communities safer and put more money back in your pocket,” Hall said.

Little said on data centers

Vance’s remarks did not include anything to do with data centers, which have emerged as a serious issue for Michigan voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

That’s in sharp contrast from online remarks earlier in the day from President Donald Trump, who on social media wrote that the “only reason that communities throughout the USA should not want data centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.”

“If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let data reign,” Trump posted just before 10 a.m. Monday to his own social media site, Truth Social.

He went on to say that China “couldn’t be happier” with a growing anti-data center movement in America, adding: “If we kill the golden goose,” referring to data centers writ large, “you will only have yourselves to blame.”

Ahead of his prepared remarks in Sterling Heights, Vance told reporters that “probably 99% of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utility and higher electricity bills for the people on the ground.”

“And if that is happening, I don’t think the data centers are that controversial,” Vance added, according to Forbes. “It’s when the utility bills get so much higher — that’s when it’s a real problem.”