Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers. Someone may want to remind his campaign about that because lately, an impressive amount of El-Sayed campaign energy seems to be aimed not at Rogers, but at Republican women – including Second Lady Usha Vance, First Lady Melania Trump and White House aide Natalie Harp.

The latest episode came Thursday when El-Sayed’s campaign posted a doctored image of the White House first lady webpage with Melania Trump’s name crossed out and Harp’s inserted in its place.

If we’re just renaming everything now…when are we making this official? https://t.co/jDCZL0SZWp pic.twitter.com/1mk0s3BEBt

— Abdul HQ (@AbdulElSayedHQ) August 27, 2026

The jab appears to be playing off recent rumors and online speculation that Trump and Harp’s unusually close relationship is more than professional. There is no evidence the two are romantically involved but El- Sayed’s campaign is clearly willing to wink at the gossip, even doctoring the White House’s official first lady page to replace Melania Trump’s name with Harp’s.

What’s quickly being noticed though is something else: El-Sayed’s campaign has been spending an awful lot of time talking about women who aren’t actually running against him.

Just days earlier, El-Sayed dragged Usha Vance into his political fight with her husband, Vice President JD Vance. After Vance invoked his late grandfather, “Papaw,” while criticizing El-Sayed’s past comments about Sharia law, El-Sayed responded: “So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…”

So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no… https://t.co/JApcsCW4kU

— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) August 22, 2026

Critics interpreted the comment as suggesting Vance’s white Appalachian family would not have accepted his Indian American wife.

Michigan Republican and Indian American leaders aren’t laughing. At a Friday press conference in Troy, they accused El-Sayed of a pattern of personal and misogynistic attacks involving Usha, her marriage and her children, and told him to keep political disagreements focused on her husband.

Melania Trump is a favorite target of El-Sayed. Earlier this month, he took a swipe at the Trumps’ marriage after the president posted photos comparing the two couples. During a CNN appearance, El-Sayed said he and his wife, Sarah, actually like each other, while suggesting Donald and Melania Trump’s marriage is traveling a “rocky road.”

Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon summed up what Republicans see as a pattern after attacks involving Usha Vance and Harp. “He goes after Usha. He goes after Natalie (Harp),” Dixon wrote on X, calling El-Sayed a “coward” who “picks on women who are not in his fight.” She went on to say, “Imagine how he would treat female staffers in the halls of Congress.”

GOP communicator Matt Whitlock had a similar observation after the latest post: “Weird how much time this campaign spends talking about other people’s wives.”