A Farmington Public Schools board member was criticized online after video circulated of her urging Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed not to speak Arabic or use Arabic music at campaign events. The episode unfolded the same day Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed El-Sayed’s rival, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, ahead of Michigan’s Aug. 4 Democratic primary.
A video circulating on social media shows Farmington Public Schools board member Angie Smith explaining why she supports U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary and offering advice aimed at Stevens’ opponent, Abdul El-Sayed.
In the clip, Smith says she is backing Stevens because she believes the congresswoman would “represent everyone” and “not just one race,” before adding: “Don’t come out speaking only Arabic, don’t come out with your Arabic music on.”
The video was posted online on July 24 and drew swift pushback from some commentators and social-media users who described the remarks as racist or inappropriate.
The controversy emerged as the Democratic primary contest between Stevens and El-Sayed intensifies ahead of the Aug. 4 vote. The winner will go on to face the Republican nominee in November.
Later on July 24, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Stevens. In her endorsement statement, Whitmer praised Stevens as someone who will “do whatever it takes to get things done for Michigan.”
Claims circulating online about a sharp shift in prediction-market odds following Whitmer’s endorsement could not be independently verified from publicly accessible, authoritative market records at the time of publication.
