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[Video below.] Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed escalated his attacks on President Donald Trump on Sunday, calling the President a “barbarian in the White House” during a nationally televised interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

El-Sayed made the remark while responding to questions about the extraordinary amount of attention Republican leaders have focused on his candidacy ahead of November’s midterm elections. El-Sayed, a physician and former director of the Detroit Health Department, is facing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s closely watched U.S. Senate contest. Republicans have increasingly sought to make El-Sayed and his progressive political views a national campaign issue.

During the interview, CBS host Weijia Jiang noted that El-Sayed had repeatedly been singled out by leading Republicans at the recent Republican National Convention, including President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rogers.

Jiang then played a clip of Johnson warning about El-Sayed and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani while arguing that Democrats in competitive congressional districts ultimately align themselves with the party’s progressive wing.

“We know who the Mamdanis and the El-Sayeds are, but it’s the Democrats in the swing seats who say one thing and then join forces and vote with the socialists that they’re afraid of. That is the dangerous part. They’re the ones who have let the barbarians inside the gate,” Johnson said.

Asked what he thought about Republicans devoting so much attention to him, El-Sayed immediately turned Johnson’s “barbarians” characterization against President Trump.

“Well, I’ll tell you this: the barbarian is in the White House, and we’re seeing the consequences of that right now,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed then accused Republicans of attempting to divert voters’ attention from economic and foreign-policy issues, citing gas and grocery prices, tariffs, the administration’s conflict with Canada, the war with Iran and access to medical care.

“You know, it was not a subject at all of the RNC? the gas prices, grocery prices, these ridiculous tariffs, and this war with Canada that’s raising our prices an average $5,600 a year for the average Michigan family. The war in Iran- didn’t want to talk about any of it. The fact that you can’t see a doctor in the United States. So, they’re going to point to me. They’re going to talk about me. They’re going to point to my name. They’re going to point to our faith. And at the end of the day, they’re doing that so that you don’t pay attention to the fact that you are being nickled and dimed by the barbarian in the White House and by a set of public policies that are not in your interest, but in his.”

The remarks came as El-Sayed has emerged as a major Republican target in the battle for control of the Senate. Republican leaders have portrayed his candidacy as evidence of the Democratic Party’s movement toward its progressive wing, while El-Sayed has sought to make affordability, health care and economic policy central themes of his general-election campaign.

The Michigan contest has attracted national attention in part because of its potential significance in determining control of the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take the chamber, making competitive races such as Michigan particularly consequential.

El-Sayed has also faced controversy during the campaign over previous remarks and associations. Earlier this month, he apologized to Michigan’s Jewish Democratic Caucus over comments he made following an attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. El-Sayed had said in discussing the attacker that “hurt people hurt people,” while referencing the man’s reported personal losses in an Israeli airstrike. He later said he had intended to provide context rather than justify the attack and acknowledged that it was not the appropriate moment for such analysis.

At the same time, some attacks directed at El-Sayed have drawn criticism for targeting his Muslim faith. Republican figures have made allegations about El-Sayed having ties to terrorism without presenting evidence, while El-Sayed has argued that Republicans are deliberately focusing on his name and religion.

Sunday’s exchange underscored the increasingly personal tone of the Michigan race. Republicans have sought to associate El-Sayed with the Democratic Party’s progressive and socialist wing, while El-Sayed used his CBS appearance to turn one of their most pointed descriptions back on President Trump — twice referring to the President as the “barbarian in the White House.”

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{Matzav.com}

Researchers are raising concerns about a rare and potentially fatal neurological disorder that has been reported among some patients using popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications, including Wegovy and Zepbound, with experts warning that severe appetite suppression, vomiting and other gastrointestinal side effects can leave patients dangerously deficient in essential nutrients.

A study published in Clinical Nutrition documented 15 reported cases of Wernicke encephalopathy, a serious brain disorder resulting from a severe deficiency of vitamin B1, or thiamine, among people who had been taking GLP-1 receptor agonists.

The majority of cases were associated with semaglutide, which is marketed under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, or tirzepatide, which is sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound.

The researchers identified the 15 cases by reviewing reports contained in the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System, previously published medical literature and cases seen at their own medical center.

Many of the patients experienced gastrointestinal or nutrition-related problems, including significant weight loss, vomiting, reduced appetite and malnutrition.

The researchers also found that reports of Wernicke encephalopathy occurred disproportionately among people using GLP-1 drugs compared with patients taking other medications. They cautioned, however, that their findings demonstrate an association and do not establish that the medications themselves caused the disorder.

Vitamin B1 is essential for normal brain function. A severe deficiency can result in confusion, difficulty walking, impaired balance and changes in vision. Without prompt treatment, Wernicke encephalopathy can cause lasting neurological injury and, in severe cases, death.

Karthik Achari, a Chicago-based clinician and founder of PepMD who was not involved with the research, stressed that the findings need to be understood in the context of the enormous number of people now using GLP-1 medications.

“Researchers went through adverse event reports and the medical literature and found a small number of cases, 15, of Wernicke encephalopathy in people taking GLP-1 drugs,” Achari told Fox News Digital. “That’s out of millions of people on these medications. So this is rare.”

“But it’s real, it’s serious, and the mechanism makes sense,” he added.

According to Achari, GLP-1 drugs can substantially suppress appetite and can also trigger nausea and vomiting. In certain patients, that combination could lead to inadequate food intake and eventually a vitamin B1 deficiency.

“The drug shrinks your appetite. It doesn’t shrink your body’s requirements,” he said. “You can now eat very little without feeling it, which is the point of the medication, but your need for protein, vitamins, and fluids didn’t go anywhere.”

Achari said certain groups could be particularly vulnerable, including patients experiencing prolonged nausea or vomiting, those rapidly losing weight while consuming very little food, people who previously underwent bariatric surgery and those who consume alcohol heavily.

Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based nutritionist and author of “The Sleepdemic Solution,” similarly emphasized that adequate nutrition and hydration should be an important component of care for patients using GLP-1 medications.

“GLP-1 medications can dramatically reduce appetite, but that also means people may unintentionally under-eat the very things their bodies need most, especially protein, fiber and fluids,” she told Fox News Digital.

Palinski-Wade warned that persistent vomiting or diarrhea can contribute to dehydration and potentially lead to kidney complications. She recommended seeking medical advice when such symptoms continue for approximately 24 hours.

“Don’t assume every side effect is just part of being on a GLP-1,” Palinski-Wade said. “Severe or persistent symptoms deserve attention.”

The study’s authors noted important limitations to their findings, particularly that much of the research was based on adverse-event reports submitted to the FDA. Such reports cannot establish that GLP-1 drugs caused Wernicke encephalopathy. The researchers called for further study, while medical experts cautioned that patients should not discontinue prescribed GLP-1 medications solely because of the new findings.

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz issued a blistering condemnation of “NAZA,” an anti-Israel film that received an award at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, accusing its creators of falsely depicting Israel as intentionally killing civilians in Gaza.

The film, produced by two Israelis, presents the Gaza war from a pro-Palestinian perspective and portrays Israel and the IDF in a sharply negative and delegitimizing light.

“As a former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister, I state unequivocally: IDF soldiers and commanders are among the most moral, humane and principled fighters in the world. How do I know? Because I was there. I know the IDF’s operations in Gaza in detail – before October 7, and even more so afterward,” Gantz wrote.

Gantz rejected the film’s portrayal of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, arguing that the IDF had gone to extraordinary lengths to uphold ethical standards while fighting in densely populated areas.

“You have to be a liar to portray Israel as deliberately carrying out killings in Gaza. No army in the world has fought in an urban environment while maintaining the purity of arms as the IDF has.”

Gantz also recalled a message he said he delivered to senior American military officials shortly after the October 7 massacre, stressing that Israel’s military campaign was never intended as an act of vengeance.

“In the first days of the war, for example, I told a delegation of American generals that there was no action we could take in Gaza that would make up for the atrocities committed against us on October 7. Therefore, revenge was never the purpose of the fighting. We are fighting to protect Israel’s citizens and to ensure security for the decades to come.”

Gantz’s criticism came after Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar denounced the filmmakers in even stronger terms, saying he would seek to have their Israeli citizenship revoked “for betraying the state.”

“The victory of the despicable film NAZA at the Venice Film Festival is appalling,” Zohar said. “The creators’ seething self-hatred, which drives them to harm their homeland in order to receive applause from antisemites around the world, is unfathomable and constitutes a betrayal of the state. This is precisely why I led the important cinema reform – so that Israeli citizens will no longer pay out of their own pockets for attacks on IDF soldiers and the State of Israel. I will work to revoke the citizenship of these contemptible filmmakers.”

{Matzav.com}