Hillary Clinton is urging Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s supporters to make peace with establishment Democrats “that they were vilifying online.”
She said of Mr. El-Sayed and other hard-left Democrats, “I’m just hoping that the people who come across well on the screen are also people who can produce results, because that’s not always the same thing.”
In Tuesday’s primary, Mr. El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate Democrat, by one percentage point.
Mr. El-Sayed calls for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, cutting off all military aid to Israel and nationalizing the healthcare system.
Mrs. Clinton, the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, told journalist Kara Swisher in a video published Friday that Mr. El-Sayed must resolve the contention from Ms. Stevens’ camp if he’s going to win in November’s general election.
Mrs. Clinton said beating the Republicans will “require a lot of outreach and a lot of willingness on the part of the winning candidate and his supporters to know that they need the people that they were vilifying online,” adding that “there were a lot of really nasty personal attacks” against Ms. Stevens throughout the primary.
Ms. Stevens faced online mockery for her speaking style and mannerisms.
Mr. El-Sayed himself accused Ms. Stevens of being beholden to her pro-Israel and establishment donors but called on supporters not to “make fun of my opponent for things that have nothing to do with her policies or politics.”
Just over half of Democrats chose a different candidate over Mr. El-Sayed in the primary, with 4% backing state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who had already dropped out of the race.
“They’re going to have to be willing to get into a conversation that brings those people over,” Mrs. Clinton said of Mr. El-Sayed’s supporters.
“You’re not going to convince Republican voters in Michigan, and the real fight will be how do we make sure that people who voted for Haley feel comfortable voting for Abdul El-Sayed and how do we get independents to feel comfortable?” she added.
Mrs. Clinton complained that far-left liberals have cost the Democratic Party victories in the past by not reconciling with mainstream candidates.
“When they lose [in primaries], they often don’t support the candidate that has been nominated,” she said. “There was a lot of reluctance to support me when I got the nomination.”
She defeated socialist Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary before losing to President Trump.
Mrs. Clinton is also calling on Mr. El-Sayed and other firebrands to develop a response to Republicans who call them “communists.”
She said, “The Republican messaging is communists, socialists. It’s going to be a very effective attack, so people on the left have to be prepared to answer that.”
She added of Republicans’ line of attack, “I assume they’ve tested it and I assume that they have reason to believe that it’s effective or they wouldn’t be beating the drum on it.”
Mr. El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, has called him “anti-American.” The Democrat’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
