Checking In With Abdul El-Sayed

0:00In state after state, the Democrat establishment has been overthrown and replaced by crazed lunatics and radicals. They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually they're communists, they're not socialists. They're long beyond socialists. In what was almost a two-hour speech last night, the president took aim at Democrats, the left, and he says they've gone even further than that. And also, namedrop the couple of times, was Abdul Al-Sayed, who's running for Senate here in Michigan, and joins us this morning. Abdul, good morning. It's good to have you back. Good morning. What did you make last night? You were namedrop'd. He spoke for two hours and didn't talk a lick about the issues that Michiganers are facing. Didn't talk about your gas prices, better sky high. Didn't talk about the fact that you can't afford to see a doctor. Didn't talk about the fact that his tariffs are driving up the costs of our groceries. Didn't talk about the fact that in this country right now, we feel more unstable because

1:02of the onslaught of AI in the data centers he wants to put in our backyards. We talk about everything except for that. He loves to say my name. I don't know why. But I wish he'd just say it right if he decided to say it. But my name is not the reason you can't afford to gas or your groceries or to see a doctor. It's his policies and he wants to spend two hours talking about everything that's not that. And just remember, my broaders are going to be there today because when Daddy Trump says give me a hug, my broaders, who's his cheerleader is going to go and give him a hug, even if it's in Dallas, rather than Michigan. I bet he's one every Dallas vote in Michigan, which is like four of them. Our job here is to be focused on issues that you face. I want to get money out of politics, but money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all. You know, in his speech last night, your family was drawn into the National Spotlight, specifically regarding the social media post by your half-sister and past work by your birth mother. How do you respond when a national campaign targets a candidate's family members? And how do you navigate those personal political differences publicly? Just remember the reason he's talking about my family is because he doesn't want you

2:05to pay attention to his family. He's got Eric and Don Jr. a bunch of like struggle bus kids, nepal babies. He's never done anything for themselves, except for now they're making money going all over the world, trading off of Daddy's power. They as a family have made billions off the presidency. Ask yourself where your family is. Are you able to afford your gas? Are you able to afford your groceries? Are you more secure in your living? Do you think your job is more secure today because Donald Trump is president? So like you can talk about my family as much as he wants. I think it's important for us to remember what his family is doing and more importantly, what it means for your family. If your family is struggling, the way that family is across Michigan, who I've been talking to are struggling, then I think we need to change. Just remember, my broadest is going to be a sock puppet for Trump. He said he ran because Trump called him and asked him to. He's in Dallas right now sucking up the Trump because at the end of the day, he's not here to work for you. He moved to Florida a long time ago. He's here to work for Trump. I want to ask you guys driving the car and I heard one of these super PAC commercials about

3:07you that you're going to let rapists and murderers out of prison if you're elected and you're too dangerous to vote for. I know you've talked about some sort of reform proposals. One to that ad is that true. Well, look, by sign in Wayne County, I did exactly the opposite. I walked into the Department of Health, Human and Veteran Services. There was a catastrophe happening in the juvenile detention facility. I walked into Florida Public Health State of emergency to rebuild the operations in that facility. We raised the salaries 35% to make sure that we could continue to operate protect folks inside and protect folks outside from the folks inside. So folks don't want to actually have a serious conversation instead. They want to cherry pick things that you said six years ago out of context. I want to be judged for my actual actions. My actual actions is when I had the opportunity to fund law enforcement and protect our communities. I did that, but I also believe that we have a responsibility to think about what we really want.

4:07Everybody wants to get home safely. That means that not every answer is going to be someone that has done. You also have to be invested in mental health support and behavioral health response, community violence intervention, all things that the Trump administration have defunded. And you've got to invest in recruitment, retention and retirement from law enforcement so that everybody gets home safely. I think that's a very reasonable approach to how we want to think about public safety. These folks want to make it about out of context splits. I want to make it about real action, which I've been a part of since I served in Wayne County. And we'll continue to be a part of what I'm in the US Senate. I do want to go back to Lloyd's question because one of the things that I've heard from Democratic voters, strong Democratic voters is there's been times when you haven't answered the question. So like going back to Lloyd's question about your family or Hassan Piker, you've kind of skirted those. Do you feel like at some point you've got to respond to these questions as opposed to moving around the board a little bit? It was funny. I have conversations with folks like you and I have conversations with folks all over

5:08the state just trying to make ends meet. They'll ask me about these things. I get that it's really good click date. I'm more focused on the issues that michigan does asking about every single day. When I'm out there in their communities across the 110 cities that I visited, I get that the media spectacle is such that you guys want to make the conversation about everything that's not relevant to everybody's life, which is to be fair. Just be fair. Well, to be fair. We are. But we're also. People can't have any. Citizens here in the state of Michigan. We're also residents here. So I think it's fair to ask those questions. I encourage you to go have a conversation with other citizens who are struggling and ask what they care about. They're asking, how can I afford my gas and my groceries? You want to talk about a song pipe versus streamer in California. I think you've got to talk about my family who doesn't even live in a state. And I'm trying to talk about families that live in a state. I'm trying to talk about gas. I'm trying to talk about groceries and seeing a doctor. I'm trying to talk about why our politics have been so corrupted. And it seems like every single time Donald Trump says something, everybody in the media says, well, I guess that's what we have to talk about now. No, the man is a carnival barker.

6:09And I'm sorry, I'm not going to follow a carnival barker down his carnival. I'm interested in actually making our politics work for everyday people. So it's not about scourting questions about answering the questions that most Michigan leaders are actually asking and making sure that our conversation focuses on their lives rather than this carnival that we've turned our politics into. And you know, you came out victorious in that very tight primary against representative Hayley Stevens. And despite, you know, tens of millions of dollars in outside spending to try to stop your campaign, what did that primary victory teach you about what Michigan voters are looking for and how do you unite the party heading into the room? Well, it taught me that people want money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all. You're not supposed to be able to beat $70 million about side spending. You're not supposed to be able to get out spent 11 to 1 and still come out victorious in the primary. You're not supposed to be able to build a movement that takes on commercial after commercial, after commercial coming after your character for reasons that have nothing to do with what Michigan leaders are actually facing.

7:10What it taught me is exactly what I just said that the media wants to have a conversation about everything that is not the issues at hand for most people. I want to have a conversation about those things. And I think when people are hearing me, they're hearing, hey, I got really, really, really wants me to be able to see a doctor. He really wants me to be able to afford my groceries and my gas. And he's willing to take on everyone, including the conventional wisdom that tells us that our conversation should be about anything else but the issues I face. What was able to bring us through a primary that got us out spent $70 to $1 by groups like eight packs and corporate packs to be able to come out victorious in the primary. And it's exactly what we're doing in this general election. Donald Trump wants to talk about everything else. A lot of folks in the media want to talk about everything else. I want to talk about why you can't afford your gas, why you can't afford your groceries, why you can't see a doctor, why you're worried that your kid's school doesn't look like it should. 50 years on from when you went there or your grandparents went there. I want to talk about the issues Michigan is facing. I'm going to keep talking about that up and down the state. I have to all say we always appreciate your time. Thank you. We'll look forward to our next conversation. Me too.

8:11I really appreciate you all having me. Thank you. You got it. We'll talk again very soon. All right. That's going to do it for us today. Kevin eats and I'll talk. Coming up next.