Abdul El-Sayed GOES AFTER Trump, AIPAC, and Corporate Dems

Welcome to Cone Affairs. My name is Nathan Robinson. I am the editor-in-chief of Cone Affairs magazine returning to the program today is Dr. Abdul El-Said. He is a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in the great state of Michigan. He's also, I have to say, a former contributor to Cone Affairs magazine. It would be the first former Cone Affairs contributor elected to the US Senate. It's just a little small side note there. And he is according to slate. The Democrat everybody is talking about Dr. El-Said. Welcome back to the program. Thank you so much for having me Nathan. It's good to continue the conversation. Well listen, I first came out to see your campaign in 2018 in Michigan for Governor. And there was a lot of excitement at that time just like there was a lot of excitement around Bernie Sanders in 2016, 2020. But you didn't win. He didn't win. And yet it seems this time as if something may feel a little different. We've had since then some very unexpected political upsets. Membrani and New York, Graham Platon, I recently in Maine. Do you think things feel different at this time around? And if so, what's your explanation for that? Yeah, they certainly do. I mean, you see it in room after room across the state. You see it reflected in the data that's coming out of polling, etc. And I think it's a couple things. Number one, my message hasn't changed. I'm saying the same thing I said eight years ago when I ran for Governor in 2018. I think what has changed though is that circumstances have proven a lot of that message right. I said that Donald Trump was not himself the disease of our politics. He's just the worst symptom of the disease. And that the system itself was the disease that allowed corporations and billionaires and special interests to buy and sell politicians in ways that leave them rigging the system against us. And I think over the last eight years, people have seen that happen in an accelerating fashion. You think about the people who were at the day with Donald Trump when he got sworn in for a second time. You think about the rise of AI and big tech. You think about the fact that we've watched more and more billionaires spit out of this economy at a higher and higher rate. And people feel like they are running in quick stand and cannot afford the basic means of a dignified life. You watch our tax dollars get funneled over to backstop a foreign military and it's genocide in Israel. And you ask why is my deductible higher than it's ever been? I think all of those things have validated what I was saying. And I think a lot of folks are a lot more interested now in a response that is about actually taking on that core system. I also think that I've been around, right? And I think we take for granted sometimes that in politics, you really do have to build a coalition of people and you have to build relationships. Now, when I did not win in 2018, I went back to public service. I served Wayne County, leading health, human and veteran services for Michigan's largest most diverse county. I built relationships in which people knew who I was and what I was about. We put glasses on kids faces. We put Narcan in a hundred different locations. We eliminated $700 million of medical debt. And people came to understand that I was not just talking about ideas that I was willing to go where the rubber hits the road and get those ideas implemented into government. And I think this time around when people look at me, they say, all right, he was 32 and never run for office. Now he's 41 with two kids in a mortgage. He's saying the same exact thing. My life is a lot harder. And he's been about it for the past eight years. So let's think differently about what we can do. And I think all of that put it together and recognize that we're building a campaign that's taken us to 90 different cities through 150 public events, go everywhere and talk to everyone. I think all of that is coming together in this campaign right now. You didn't think that maybe you'd like to go and live in California, for instance, for a little bit? No, I like Michigan, famously. You mentioned there, you know, I say support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. This is one area where the politics really seem to have changed. Public opinion has really shifted on this. There was a time when any candidate who opposed APEC, APEC's influence in politics would be basically drummed out of politics. And that happened up until very recently. I mean, we saw what happened to Jamal Bowman, Cory Bush. But Graham Platter just got achieved an overwhelming victory while being very firm on the issue of Israel Palestine. It didn't work on Zoran Mamdani either. Could you comment on what's going on? Obviously, there was an effort when you campaigned alongside the streamer Hassan Piker to suggest that I believe he was a supporter of terrorism or an anti-Semite or etc. And it didn't seem to affect your poll numbers either. So could you tell us a little bit what you think is going on there? It's not even about Palestine in Israel. It's about what we do with our tax dollars in Michigan. I'm running for Senator for Michigan. And it's a crazy thing that for a very long time, wherever you were running for a Senate, you had a hundred million dollar super PAC in APEC, telling folks that the best use of their tax dollars was to be sent abroad to backstop in a apartheid regime, to subsidize genocide, to now fight a war that we have no business fighting at the behest of foreign governments prime minister. I think people are looking at this and saying, how the hell are you misappropriating my tax dollars? And why the hell are all these politicians for it? And I think that really is the issue. As the next Senator for Michigan, I want my Michigan tax dollars meant to Michigan to provide health care in Michigan and schools in Michigan. I don't want them sent abroad. And I think people are really just sick and tired of being told that the best use of their money is to kill other people's kids when their own kids go to schools that look like they did 30 years ago when their own kids can't get the health care that they need when their own kids are at risk of dying in car accidents because our infrastructure is so broke. Like all of these things, I think, have come to a head. And I also think that the old system of communication, right, the corporate press and corporate media in a lot of ways had always been able to drum up a certain level of of antipathy for somebody who was willing to deviate from the usual talking points and they've just lost a lot of their power. You know, for three weeks on end, the only thing that Fox News and CNN could read about was that, you know, because I was campaigning with somebody who streams on Twitch that somehow I was outside of the bounds of traditional politics. And I would tell them, no, if you actually pull the issue, which they did, it's an 80% issue. People want their tax dollars spent here. And that's not about antipathy for anybody. That's about love of people, love of the people I want to serve here in Michigan, love of Palestinians in the same way that I love Jewish folk. It is about recognizing that if you're serious about loving people, you got to love all people. If you're serious about human rights, your human rights have to apply everywhere. So, you know, in some respects, it's just I think this moment, people are just saying, you know, I am actually going to believe my lying eyes. And they're coming and learning about my campaign and saying, all right, this is a guy who wants to get money out of politics, put money in a pocket, pass Medicare for all. I'm kind of for that. Let me ask you about your theory of electability, because the polling that I have seen suggests that at the moment, if you look at a general election matchup between yourself and your public and opponent or your two current democratic opponents, Hailey Stevens, Mallory McMarrow, they have a slightly greater chance in the existing polls of beating the Republican. I think you're even there a few points ahead. You said recently on Twitter slash X that you were pretty confident, in fact, I believe you said, bet on it, that you could beat the Republican by seven points. Now Jonathan Chate, the Atlantic recently wrote an article about you and which he essentially said that your theory of electability is crazy, that the classic democratic theory that there is a political spectrum, it runs to the left, to the right. Michigan is in the center, so the Democrats win by selecting someone who is in the center, and the Republicans lose if they select someone that's off to the right. So you need to run a centrist, democratic as the sentence Republican, if you want to win this winning state, that's kind of roughly the theory. Clearly that is not how you see the political world, and if you think you could in Michigan comfortably beat a Republican, you have reasons for thinking that. I want to know your reasons. Yeah, well, I really appreciate the question because I really want us to step back and ask a couple of very basic points about how politics actually work, not from the Atlantic desk where you have a vested interest in sustaining a system that white washes neoliberal ideas that continues to tell us the best use of our money is to subsidize big corporations or a foreign government. But if that was true about moderation, why did Michigan vote for Donald Trump twice? If everybody just wanted perfectly offensive, inoffensive, why did Donald Trump win in Michigan twice? Like, actually just play this out. Bernie Sanders won his primary in 2016, then Michiganers elected Trump, then Biden won, then Trump won again. And one theory of the case is that Michiganers are just pinging back and forth. The other theory of the case is that they keep going up to the buffet, not really knowing what they want because the thing that they want isn't there, and having to choose between two things they don't really want. And my point is that you could actually give Michiganers the things that they want. Now, map that into the minds of most people. I don't think most voters out there are asking, where do I sit on a left-right spectrum? I think most folks are asking how am I going to be able to afford my groceries? How am I going to be able to afford my overinflated gas? How am I going to be able to make sure that my kid has a good shot at life? How do I see a doctor when I get sick? And I think your best bet is to be able to answer those questions clearly by speaking the truth about the fact that. For too long all of these things have been put out of reach because of the power of corporations in our politics to buy and sell Politicians I'm the only candidate in my race Democrat or Republican who's never taken a dime of corporate money and never will and so when I tell you I want to show up and fight for you you can trust I'm gonna show up and fight for you now a lot of folks looked at down Trump and said well he doesn't look like the establishment so I guess I'll take a bet on him But he also looked like a narcissistic billionaire asshole so I don't look like a narcissistic billionaire asshole And I think there's an opportunity to say hey, what if that package of not establishment came in the form of a doctor who Rebuilt a health department who eliminated $700 million in medical debt and put glasses on kids faces for free and put Narcan in a hundred vending machines and then there's finally the point that campaigns matter When Pope folks looked at this race back a year ago and we all launched everybody said well There's no chance that Abdul has because well his name's Abdul How's he gonna win a primary and now everyone those same people are freaking out be like oh Abdul could win the primary Why because we actually went to 90 different cities? 350 public events had conversations with everyone about the key things people were feeling and we were able to persuade people about what was possible if we thought differently about what our politics are I'm gonna be running it against an actual guy his actual name is Mike Rogers He's actually the guy who helped to architect the opioid crisis He actually retired to Florida for a $14 million Lobbyist payout for his new gig as a pharma lobbyist and he actually lost on health care last cycle and I'm actually gonna Whoop his rear end up and down the state because I'm a doctor who rebuilt the health department eliminated $700 million in debt and put Narcan in people's hands He's a guy who kicked off an opioid epidemic and so yes, I'm gonna beat him by seven and I'm looking forward to that campaign What do you talk about there is that we shouldn't accept you know polls at As a frozen political reality we interviewed Memdani on this program at the beginning of his campaign when he was pulling like 3% And I said you're gonna win this thing and he said I'm gonna win this thing You know at the time. It's crazy. Oh it seemed it and then he went out now today. He's the mayor of New York I Feel there's been a lot of talk at lately about a Jerry mandering and I'm obviously very opposed to racist partisan Jerry mandering But there's almost sort of in some of the democratic talk about that Jerry mandering this idea. Oh, well there are red districts and blue districts And once the district is drawn red, you know, you kind of give up on it You don't campaign in this place that the system is rigged against us. We kept with you're kind of talking about I don't know the idea of not giving up on people just because they voted for Trump and trying to win back some of what you've lost and say Okay, it's a red district now that doesn't mean it's gonna be tomorrow. I mean Nathan You know the the art of political discourse is persuasion. I mean, there's a whole reason you write Because you want to persuade people about what you believe the truth to be and It's odd in our politics. We've given up on being able to persuade people. I haven't and that's why we go to a lot of Traditionally red parts of the state to have conversations with folks and it turns out I've had a lot of conversations with folks who voted for Donald Trump and I had a guy come up to me said, you know, I don't like you much. I was like, I'm sorry. I like you He's like, I know and I'm gonna vote for you. I was like, what why he's like because I think you really want me to have health care I was like, I really want you to have health care. He's like, yeah, that's why I'm gonna vote for you I was like, okay, so why don't you like me? He's like, because you're Muslim. I was like, okay, well It turns out I don't need you to like me. I need you to like you and At least with me folks know I'm not bought by the corporations who are running your health care system into the ground I'm not bought by the utility that just inflated your electrical prices Higher than 46 other states over the last 20 years and bought off 93% of the state legislature I'm not bought by anyone and so when I tell you I'm gonna show up and fight for your health care You know, I'm gonna show for a show up and fight for your health care When I tell you I'm gonna show up and fight to put money in your pocket and give you the right to a union You know, that's what I'm a fight for when I tell you I'm gonna fight against corporate money You know I'm gonna fight against that. So you know at the end of the day there is a conversation to be had About the things that all of us need in our lives And I think here's the problem for too long the Democratic Party didn't have much to say about the structural Economic challenges in people's lives because for too long that party was taking money from the corporations who were making those problems Orson the first place and so we pivoted into the same kind of cultural war that Republicans were so eager to fight with us And it turns out in politics is about protecting your rights and it's also about assuring your access to the basic means of a dignified life good schools Good health care the ability to bargain collectively as a union again part of your rights the knowledge that your vote actually matters Like these are the things that politics should be transacted on and it doesn't matter if you're a farmer who lives In the most rural part of town or if you're queer and live in the city You still need a good roof of your head you still need good food that you're gonna afford at a grocery store You still need to see a doctor and I want to protect everybody's rights so that queer individual in Detroit It's a love who they love and be who they are But the important piece that I can really fight on is making sure that regardless of who you are You got a roof of your head you can afford your groceries you can see a doctor and I think that's the conversation We need to be having up and down the state and it turns out that when you actually do that you can win some people over yeah When we talk to man Johnny He's just said well I talked to New Yorkers and they all but all they tell me is it's too expensive to live here So I'm campaigning on fixing that and you know left-right spectrum didn't really enter into it He's like a medeerocratic socialist, but you know, I'm trying to make the I'm trying to freeze the rent What about the current democratic leadership? One of your opponents, Melinda Mara recently said she hit she was the only candidate in the race who had called for the outing of Chuck Schumer I don't know if that's true if you how you feel about the current Senate democratic leadership Or whether they want mistakes they've made or whether they need to be replaced You know Nathan what you need to know is I'm the only candidate that Chuck Schumer wouldn't be okay with winning So if you think the whole issue is one person then yeah, okay But if you think it's a system ask yourself who that system opposes the hardest and that's me I've also said that the question itself is in coherent because here's the issue Let's say when I get elected it's John Federman or Chuck Schumer And now I've said oh, I'm not gonna support this one person and I'm gonna support the other one Hello, so the only coherent answer to the question is well who do you support? And I've said very clearly that my number one pick for a majority leader would be Senator Chris van Holland who I think is phenomenal. I think he is an incredible legislator and I would love to see him as Senate majority leader when we win But barring telling me who you're supporting it is a bit of a silly trick to try and Break all of this down as if it's one man's responsibility and To put yourself in a position where you've unilaterally opposed one person without knowing who the other alternative is So I'm telling you who I want my alternative to be and who I'm gonna be supporting and that should be the answer that you take Which is actually an answer to co here a question, which is who do you support for Senate majority leader? You must have thought a fair bit about You know if you do get elected to the Senate what your priorities should be in the Senate one of the things that Obviously a Democrat in the current Senate struggles with is that the Democrats don't have a majority You have to do what you can with the available power that you have Have you thought about I mean if you if you win in November what you think your Priorities as a senator given the limits of what you've been able to do would be money out of politics money in your pocket Medicare for all Those are the big three goals that I will be fighting on every single day. Let's be clear We even when we win the majority in Shalma We will still have Donald Trump as president and we will have to hold him accountable As far as we possibly can him all of his accolades all of his appointees everyone we're gonna have to hold him accountable But we're also going to have to be fighting for a president who will fight to get money out of politics But money in your pocket and pass Medicare for all and that is about persuasion and I'll tell you this I am going to be a senator from the state of Michigan the state of Michigan is one of those key states that you cannot ignore on a presidential map And so my point will be of all the 150 people running for president if you would like to succeed here in Michigan I'm gonna open up a path that is about a politics that is about people and if you would like my support, right and Then I hope that you will sound like me on the key issues that I'm fighting on that we should be keeping our money here rather than sending it abroad to drop Bombs on other people's kids that we should be guaranteeing health care for everyone that we cannot continue to be beholden to corporations in our politics And I'm planning to go and have that conversation all over this country because I believe that we need to show Democrats what it looks like to persuade again And I want to be doing that so holding this administration accountable Trying to think about what are the bipartisan things we can do in even in the setting where Donald Trump is still in in the presidency And then making sure that we are doing the persuasive work to elect a president who is willing to get money out of politics But money or pocket in pac America for all what about restraints on presidential power because I mean one of I mean as you say There is a way in which support for Israel is itself a domestic issue of what your tax dollars are going to but there are other ways In which you know the president is just out of control in his use of executive power We recently returned from Cuba where the country is being strangled by a a fuel blockade people are really suffering there obviously the Iran War. Yes, you know, incredibly. possibly also devastating for Iranians. What about foreign policy? And what do you think the Senate's role in kind of trying to restrain or the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president? I mean, the president has been very aggressive in the use of US military power abroad. - Yeah, I think this president is demonstrating a lot of the holes in the governance apparatus that is supposed to condition declarations of war and the power of the purse in Congress. And I think we need to be thinking about how we address and so up some of those holes should there be a next Donald Trump who is smarter than this one. And similarly, you think about like the presidential pardon power, right? The way that that's been abused. I think there's a lot that needs to happen over the next six years in the US Senate to be able to condition the power of the presidency so that we are no longer in a situation where anyone president can run a mock with American foreign policy in ways that completely bypass the constitutional requirements that sit with Congress. - Well, we know you have a lot of events to get to and I know that you probably have similar to what I saw when I was there in 2018, where you were doing 40 hours a week of calling people to try to get paid donations a lot to get done. So we appreciate you giving us your time this morning to talk about your highlights spoken about in the media increasingly campaign for the United States Senate in Michigan, Dr. Abdul-El Sion. Thank you for joining us. - Nathan, thank you so much for having me. And if you wanna be a part of this campaign, I hope that you will go to abuelforcented.com, chip us off five bucks, 10 bucks, buy me out of those hours of call time. Let me get out there and be out there talking to Michiganers. And if you wanna get involved, I hope that you'll sign up to volunteer as well. Nathan is always great to spend some time. I hope that we get to see you on the campaign trail again this summer. - I think we should also follow you on social media because you're a little bit sassy. Just a touch. - Thanks for watching. Just as a reminder, there's lots more great current affairs material coming out on this channel all the time if you subscribe. And if you go to curtaffairs.org, you can check out all of our excellent online articles and our wonderful print edition. Subscribe to the print edition today. It's full of all kinds of incredible essays and art and little amusing surprises, including fake ads. There are no real ads in currentaffairs. Go to currentaffairs.org. Slash subscribe today to get the print edition and use the special code for our video viewers. 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