Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed while campaigning for Republican Mike Rogers in Monroe, Michigan, on Thursday, accusing the progressive candidate of holding radical views and questioning his commitment to the state and its residents.

Vance described El-Sayed as “one of the craziest, one of the most far-left, and one of the most radical people running for high office in the history of the United States of America.” He also accused El-Sayed of denouncing the country’s history and insulting generations of Americans who built its communities and industries.

“He calls our nation irredeemably racist. He calls the United States of America genocidal, and he hates the people who built it,” Vance said, pointing to his grandfather, who worked for 40 years as a union welder at Armco Steel’s Middletown Works in Ohio. “Abdul says that men like this, men like you, men like your father and grandfather and your son, were bigots,” he added.

Vance also took issue with an August post on X in which El-Sayed suggested the vice president would not have brought his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, back in time to meet his grandfather if given the opportunity. Vance said the remarks unfairly portrayed his late grandfather as incapable of loving his wife because she is of Indian descent. “He said my papaw, one of the greatest men that I have ever known, the man who raised me when my own mom and dad struggled … was incapable of loving my darling wife and our amazing second lady for the simple fact that he was white and she is not,” Vance said.

He further criticized El-Sayed, who was raised in part by white step-grandfathers, arguing that the candidate’s comments raised questions about how he viewed other Americans. Vance also accused El-Sayed of misrepresenting his background, claiming the candidate presented himself as a foreigner rather than a Michigan native. “He invented a totally fictitious background for himself, not as a Michigander born an hour north of where we stand today, but as a foreigner who came here from 6,000 miles away,” Vance said.

Vance’s criticism extended to El-Sayed’s response to the deadly attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Authorities identified Ayman Mohammad Ghazali as the attacker, who died at the scene, and said the incident was believed to have been inspired by Hezbollah. Vance condemned El-Sayed for using the phrase “Hurt people, hurt people” when discussing the perpetrator. “In a moment where he should show leadership, he decided to attack the people who were victimized by that crime, and he decided to show empathy for the people who were committing that crime,” Vance said.

The vice president contrasted his criticism of El-Sayed with his support for Rogers, emphasizing the Republican candidate’s focus on economic issues and Michigan residents. “Mike cares about the simple things, the things that should be easy. He cares about lower costs. He cares about lower taxes. He cares about bringing good jobs into the state of Michigan, and of course, he cares about our young people being able to afford a home and the community that made them who they are,” Vance said.

Rogers, Vance argued, would prioritize all Michigan residents regardless of their background, pledging to put the state’s interests first.