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Political commentator Bill O’Reilly on Monday called progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed a “nut” that will probably win in Michigan’s Senate race.
In an “On Balance” interview with NewsNation’s Leland Vittert, O’Reilly argued that in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, “turnout will be low and it’ll be true believers in the socialist communist cause.”
“The nut in Michigan will probably win,” O’Reilly said, referring to El-Sayed. “The Republicans are overjoyed with this.”
The Hill has reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment on O’Reilly’s remarks.
The progressive candidate is running against centrist Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.) to potentially fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters (D), who endorsed the latter. The candidate that wins will compete former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in the general election on Nov. 3.
“As Trump said earlier, they believe Rogers will wax this guy because he’s so crazy. He’s so extreme. And I believe it too,” O’Reilly continued about El-Sayed.
During the race, El-Sayed has leaned into messaging focused on economic populism, universal healthcare and restricting corporate influence in politics. He has stated he is not affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, nor does he consider himself a socialist.
“The big giant totalitarian state is what Sanders and his crew want,” O’Reilly said in the interview, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Sanders has campaigned with and defended El-Sayed on numerous occasions, saying on Sunday that the Senate hopeful can appeal to working class voters from either party.
In a recent EPIC-MRA poll, 44 percent of respondents said they would cast their ballot for Stevens or would consider doing so if the election happened that day, and 42 percent said the same of Rogers. This is compared to 46 percent of respondents who said they would back or were considering backing Rogers, while 43 percent said the same of El-Sayed. The margin of error for the poll is 4 percentage points, so the results for both Democratic candidates against Rogers are within that margin.
O’Reilly, a former Fox News host, said that even though Michigan is a politically divided state, he does not “believe they want communism.”
“I could be wrong,” he added.
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