Ad Backing El-Sayed Recycled from Cenk Uygur's Past Presidential Bid, Criticized as Antisemitic

A political advertisement that backs Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and blames U.S. aid to Israel for rising grocery prices has been criticized as antisemitic. The ad was originally created by Cenk Uygur, co-founder of "The Young Turks" and uncle of streamer Hasan Piker, for his own 2024 presidential bid.

Uygur's Rebellion PAC repurposed the ad, which depicts a couple discussing the cost of groceries and attributing it to U.S. financial support for Israel. The ad suggests that this aid is contributing to the expense of everyday items for Americans. In the ad, a woman states, "Honey, you’re going to have to put those eggs back. They like eggs, but we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians." The man responds, "Don’t we give Israel $4 billion a year anyway?" to which she replies, "Yeah, and now we’re giving them another $26 billion. It’s like $161 per person. Apparently it’s costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza."

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a dozen eggs was approximately $2.27, and bananas averaged $0.66 per gram, both of which were lower than in January before the conflict in Gaza began. National average gas prices were $4.27 per gallon, according to AAA.

Uygur had previously run a primary challenge against former President Joe Biden, though he was ineligible to run for president as he is a naturalized citizen born in Turkey. The U.S. Constitution requires presidents to be natural-born citizens.

El-Sayed's campaign spokesperson, Roxie Richner, stated that the ad is not affiliated with El-Sayed's campaign. "Abdul is focused on pushing back against Trump’s agenda that is raising prices for Michiganders," Richner said. "No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign."

The ad has drawn bipartisan criticism. Outgoing Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) called the ad "dangerously antisemitic" on X, formerly Twitter, and urged El-Sayed to condemn it. "If [Abdul El-Sayed] truly means what he says about treating the Jewish community as he would treat his own children, then he would immediately condemn this dangerous ad as outrageously antisemitic and demand that it be taken down," Goldman posted. "If not, then he’s full of shit."

Uygur defended the ad, telling The Post, "If you think this ad is antisemitic, you’ve lost your mind, and you don’t know it. It’s saying we’re giving too much money to a foreign nation — and they’re misusing it." He added, "There’s nothing more normal than that. But when someone criticizes the government of Israel, and you hear ‘They hate all Jews,’ get clinical help."