Democrats Turn To Obama To Prop Up A Controversial Nominee

Former President Barack Obama will campaign in Detroit later this month for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, whose race against Republican Mike Rogers is separated by just one point in a recent poll.

“Looking forward to being in Detroit on October 24 to campaign for Jocelyn Benson, Abdul El-Sayed, and Democrats up and down the ballot in Michigan,” Obama said on Monday.

El-Sayed welcomed the announcement. “It is my honor and privilege to announce that President Barack Obama is joining us on the trail in Detroit on Saturday, October 24.”

The former president’s appearance will bring prominent Democratic support to El-Sayed in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024.

El-Sayed has rejected the democratic socialist label despite receiving an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America. A Fox News poll released last week found El-Sayed at 50% and Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers at 49% among likely voters. The poll has a three-point margin of error.

El-Sayed has faced scrutiny over his decision to campaign with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who once said “America deserved 9/11.”

Asked about his relationship with Piker in an interview on Monday, El-Sayed said he needed to have conversations with people across the political aisle to build a large coalition.

El-Sayed’s past statements have also drawn scrutiny. In 2021, he called for renewed COVID-19 lockdowns and fines for businesses that disobeyed. A resurfaced video clip also showed him criticizing Mackinac Island, a beloved Michigan vacation destination.

“I hate Mackinac so much,” El-Sayed said in a resurfaced documentary from his failed 2018 gubernatorial campaign. “Every time I’ve ever come here I’ve hated it. Why am I here?”

Mackinac Island has been the home of the Michigan governor’s official summer residence since 1945. After the clip resurfaced, El-Sayed doubled down saying, ““I don’t think the most American place in Michigan is a place that…bans cars.”

Rogers appealed to dissatisfied Democratic voters the day after El-Sayed won the primary, when the Mackinac comments also resurfaced.

“If you are among the majority of Democratic voters who woke up on Wednesday feeling well, hopeless, because the person who won does not represent your values then just know there is still hope,” Rogers said.

He also addressed grandparents, young people, and working families.

“To Grandparents across Michigan who are heartbroken from watching their kids and grandkids leave this state, you have a home with us,” he said. “To young people who are looking for real solutions to solve our housing affordability crisis, you have a home with us. To working families who don’t want higher taxes and lower paychecks, well you have a home with us. And to the vast majority of people across Michigan who do not want to throw their support behind a campaign filled with anger, divisiveness, calls for violence, and the views that are out of touch with your values, then you have a home with us.”

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