Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed invoked his Indian American wife, Sarah Jukaku, in a fresh jab at Vice President JD Vance, challenging his views on who gets to be considered American.
“JD understands America is big enough. His own family proves it. My wife is also Indian American. What is frustrating to me is to pretend that only some people get to be American,” El-Sayed said in an interview.
Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, is also Indian American.
The latest exchange comes two months after El-Sayed and Vance clashed over the Democratic Party and the role of religion in American politics. In a speech in Ohio, Vance said he would struggle to go back in time and explain the modern Democratic Party to his late grandfather, whom he called “Papaw.” During the remarks, Vance accused El-Sayed of wanting to impose Sharia law, without providing evidence.
El-Sayed responded on X: “So do we think JD is taking [his wife] Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no?”
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Right-wing commentators pushed back against El-Sayed’s remarks, arguing that bringing spouses into the political debate was inappropriate. El-Sayed later told CNN that while he would “rather not talk about spouses at all,” he had brought up Usha Vance because he believed her husband’s political philosophy rested on the idea that some people were “more American” than others.
He also questioned why Vance would invoke his grandfather unless he was referring to a time when people like El-Sayed were considered “less than normal” in American politics.
El-Sayed recently made history by winning the Michigan Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers. The 42-year-old Egyptian American became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. His victory also prevented Republicans from capturing the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, giving Democrats another significant win in a closely contested election.
El-Sayed built his campaign around the rising cost of living and the financial pressures facing working-class Americans. During the campaign, he faced racist and Islamophobic rhetoric, along with baseless allegations linking him to terrorist sympathies. Despite the attacks, he won the race, contributing to a broader Democratic surge in the midterm elections.
READ: ‘Ramaswamy has more dignity’: Abdul El-Sayed takes brutal swipe at Mike Rogers (November 7, 2026)
El-Sayed’s wife and her Indian roots had recently attracted attention after a video resurfaced in which he joked about his close connection to South Indian culture.
“I’ve been married in a South Indian family 20 years. Like, I am well inducted now. You know, I might be more Indian than I am Arab,” El-Sayed said in the interview.
In the same conversation, El-Sayed compared Indian and Arab cultures, praising what he described as the patience embedded in Indian culture. He said he fully appreciated this quality only after visiting India.
“There is a patience in Indian culture,” he said, adding that he realized its significance when he traveled to the country, where “you’re surrounded by a billion people.”
His remarks were humorous references to his marriage to Sarah Jukaku, whose family traces its roots to Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district.