Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing sharp criticism, including from fellow Democrats, after posting social media attacks aimed at Vice President JD Vance's wife and a female Trump aide over the weekend.

El-Sayed, who is running against former Republican congressman Mike Rogers for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat, posted a message on Saturday that appeared to reference Usha Vance's Indian ethnicity. The post came shortly after Vice President Vance criticized El-Sayed at a rally in Ohio, taking aim at what Vance described as the candidate's stated adherence to Sharia law.

El-Sayed's post read: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no...", a reference to Vance's well-known nickname for his grandfather. Critics immediately read the remark as a racial dig at the Second Lady, who is of Indian descent.

Journalist Emily Schrader responded directly, as SILive.com reported:

"You are a racist creep."

Earlier that same Saturday, El-Sayed had posted a separate remark aimed at Natalie Harp, an executive assistant to President Trump. That post came after Trump criticized El-Sayed at a rally for campaigning alongside Hasan Piker, a far-left internet personality who once said "America deserved 9/11", a comment Piker later apologized for, according to Reuters.

El-Sayed's post about Harp read: "Natalie, I think he's had a little too much iPad for the week. He needs his rest." The remark appeared to play off unattributed internet speculation about Harp's relationship with the president, a line of innuendo that El-Sayed chose to amplify rather than ignore.

Republicans and Democrats alike call the posts sexist

The backlash was not limited to the right. Fox News reported that even a pro-Rogers Democratic account called El-Sayed's attacks "deeply sexist" and labeled him "misogynistic." That a candidate's own side felt compelled to condemn his conduct tells you something about how far outside the lines he landed.

Tudor Dixon, the Republican former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan, offered one of the sharpest rebukes:

"He goes after Usha. He goes after Natalie [Harp]. This coward picks on women who are not in his fight. Imagine how he would treat female staffers in the halls of Congress."

GOP strategist Matt Whitlock was more concise, calling El-Sayed's operation "just a bad campaign, bad candidate, bad instincts."

Commentator Ryan Girdusky framed the episode as a window into how El-Sayed views ordinary voters:

"If you're a rural White American living in Michigan, just remember El-Sayed believes you're a racist."

El-Sayed's campaign stayed silent when asked for comment

Fox News Digital requested comment from El-Sayed's campaign. The campaign did not respond. That silence is notable for a candidate who had no trouble posting provocative remarks about two women with no role in his Senate race, but apparently had nothing to say when reporters came calling.

Neither Usha Vance nor Natalie Harp holds elected office. Neither is El-Sayed's opponent. His actual opponent is Rogers, the former Republican congressman. Yet El-Sayed chose to spend his weekend targeting Vance's wife and a female White House staffer rather than making a case to Michigan voters about why they should send him to Washington.

The pattern fits a candidate who has struggled to stay on message. El-Sayed's willingness to go after women who are not running against him raises a straightforward question about judgment, the kind of judgment voters expect from someone asking for a six-year Senate term.

Vance and Trump had already put El-Sayed on defense

Both posts from El-Sayed came after he had been singled out by the president and vice president at separate rallies. Vice President Vance, speaking in Ohio, criticized El-Sayed over what Vance described as his stated adherence to Sharia law. President Trump, at his own rally, went after El-Sayed for campaigning with Hasan Piker, the internet personality whose 9/11 remark drew widespread condemnation.

Rather than respond on substance, defending his policy positions, rebutting the Sharia law characterization, or distancing himself from Piker's record, El-Sayed went personal. He swung at the vice president's wife and a female aide to the president. That is not a rebuttal. It is a deflection, and a revealing one.

El-Sayed is no stranger to controversy. He previously challenged his GOP rival Rogers to a tackle football game, after having called the sport toxic. That kind of contradiction does not build confidence in a candidate's consistency or seriousness.

The left's broader willingness to target Usha Vance is itself a pattern. She has been the subject of repeated social media attacks from progressive figures, none of whom seem troubled by the irony of a movement that claims to champion women going after one who holds no political office and makes no public policy.

Vice President Vance, for his part, has been sharply critical of El-Sayed's progressive record, framing the Michigan candidate as a champion of the affluent rather than the working class. El-Sayed's weekend posts did nothing to counter that characterization. If anything, they reinforced it, a candidate more interested in scoring points on social media than addressing the concerns of Michigan families dealing with real problems.

A Senate candidate who cannot stay in his own lane

Michigan's Senate race is one of the most closely watched contests in the country. Rogers, the Republican, is a former congressman with a national security background. El-Sayed is a public health official turned progressive activist. The race should be about policy, about who can better serve a state grappling with economic pressure, border security concerns, and the cost of living.

Instead, El-Sayed spent a weekend making racially charged insinuations about the vice president's wife and taunting a female White House staffer. His own party's allies called the behavior sexist. His campaign went silent when pressed for an explanation. And the voters of Michigan are left to wonder whether this is a candidate who wants to represent them, or one who just wants attention.

When a candidate's instinct under pressure is to attack women who are not even in the fight, Michigan voters do not need a strategist to tell them what that says about his character. They can see it for themselves.