A progressive political action committee has released a campaign advertisement supporting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, using a family's struggle to afford groceries to criticize American military assistance to Israel and its war in Gaza.
The advertisement, released by Rebellion PAC, associated with commentator Cenk Uygur, depicts a couple shopping at a supermarket and debating which groceries they can afford. Their conversation takes an abrupt political turn when one suggests returning a carton of eggs to the shelf because the money is needed to fund Israeli military operations.
A political ad supporting Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, which criticizes US military aid to Israel
(Video: Rebellion PAC)
"We have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians," the woman tells her partner.
The startled man asks whether the United States already provides Israel with $4 billion annually.
"Yeah, and now we're giving them another $26 billion," the woman replies. "Do you know how much that is per American taxpayer? It's like $161 per person. Apparently it's costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza."
The $26 billion cited refers to a broader emergency aid package approved in 2024 that included funding beyond direct military transfers to Israel.
The exchange then turns to Israel's health care system. "It's terrible. Don't they get universal healthcare too?" the man asks.
"Yeah, they do. We're paying for that too, probably," the woman responds, before suggesting they put back the bananas as well.
The suggestion that American taxpayers fund Israel's universal health care system is also unsupported.
The scene closes with the man asking, "Why the f*** do we have to pay for all of this?"
Abdul El-Sayed, Mike Rogers
(Photo: Robin Buckson/Pool via REUTERS, CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
The advertisement comes as U.S. military assistance to Israel and the war in Gaza remain contentious issues in Michigan's Senate race, where El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in the Nov. 3 election to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, has opposed using American taxpayer money to fund foreign wars, including military assistance to Israel. Rogers, a former Republican congressman, has generally supported Israel, although the issue has also created tensions within his political coalition.
The ad takes direct aim at Rogers, accusing him of prioritizing Israeli interests over those of American voters.
"Why does Mike Rogers care so much about what Israelis want and so little about what you want?" the narrator asks, before presenting El-Sayed as the candidate who "is for you."