// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Vance calls Michigan Senate candidate El-Sayed 'evil' at campaign rally
US Vice-President JD Vance has described Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as "a very, very evil" person at a campaign rally in Michigan, accusing him of being a divisive figure.
He also warned El-Sayed to "keep my wife's name the hell out of your mouth", after the candidate appeared to suggest that Vance's late grandfather would not accept Second Lady Usha Vance, who is Hindu.
El-Sayed shot back at Vance later on Monday, accusing the Trump administration of pushing "evil" policies and "starting wars abroad when there's peace".
The 41-year-old candidate is facing Trump ally Mike Rogers in what has quickly become a senate race characterised by personal attacks and insults between the two.
Speaking at a rally for Rogers in a Detroit suburb on Monday night, Vance repeatedly accused El-Sayed - who is Muslim - of being a divisive figure with little interest in bringing communities together.
"I realise that there's something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today," Vance said, adding that he was seeking to "destroy" the country.
"My message to Abdul El-Sayed is: You can pal around with terrorist sympathisers, and you can say that America deserved 9/11, or you could empathise not with the children who were targeted at Temple Israel, but with the attacker," the vice-president said.
During his primary, El-Sayed campaigned alongside controversial far-left influencer and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who once suggested that the US "deserved" the attacks in New York and Washington.
While El-Sayed never said those words and has since distanced himself from Piker, Vance repeatedly linked the two together during his speech.
In an interview with CNN later on Monday, El-Sayed took his own jabs at Vance, accusing the vice-president of a series of "evil" policies during the Trump administration.