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 Senator John Fetterman – not his opponent, Representative 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, according to leaked audio published by Politico, he suggested that if “you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message”.