El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate seat, tosses 'habibi' at JD Vance

Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's U.S. Senate race, and he didn't wait long to make his victory speech memorable. Speaking on election night, the newly minted senator-elect turned to Vice President JD Vance and addressed him with a single Arabic word: habibi.

The line landed hard enough that it needed its own explainer. Habibi is a common Arabic term of endearment, roughly translating to my beloved or my darling — a word friends, family members and even total strangers toss around across the Arabic-speaking world. In recent years it has also become internet slang far beyond the Middle East, which is part of why it traveled so fast.

Dropping it on the vice president, though, is a different register entirely. It's warm on its face and pointed in context, a greeting that doubles as a wink at whoever is listening.

AP has since unpacked the word itself, answering the question plenty of viewers were left asking after the speech aired: what does habibi actually mean?

El-Sayed is now headed to the Senate as the state's incoming senator. His first viral moment came before he was even sworn in — and it wasn't a policy line that did it.