Abdul El-Sayed
Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan
Abdul El-Sayed (Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan) has appeared as a guest on 3 episodes in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Single-payer healthcare, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Single-payer healthcare
El-Sayed argues the main obstacle to health reform is industry spending rather than Republican opposition.
“It's not the Republican opposition I'm worried about. It's the industry opposition”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:30
El-Sayed says he would vote for any incremental reform that expands publicly funded coverage and weakens corporate insurers.
“The rubric is simple. It gives more people healthcare through public dollars and disempowers corporate health insurers”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 58:00
El-Sayed envisions Medicare for All as a guaranteed public floor, with private supplemental insurance permitted but largely unnecessary.
“But our goal is to build a floor so high that most folks would be like, why would I?”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 53:18
El-Sayed suggests drug companies could still innovate if capped at a 15% margin over research and development costs, citing Costco's model.
“imagine prescription drug companies just said, listen, we are going to charge 15% above and beyond the rate of what it costs us”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 48:36
El-Sayed argues that deductibles made private health insurance useless as protection against financial catastrophe.
“The moment somebody created a deductible, the idea of private health insurance became useless”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 44:37
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
El-Sayed proposes that Democrats separate protecting the Jewish community from criticism of Israel's government as a first principle.
“Number one, that the well-being of the Jewish community is different than good faith criticism of a foreign government”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:29:30
El-Sayed says he is agnostic between one-state and two-state outcomes as long as the process ensures rights for both peoples.
“Me as a US policymaker, I would be fine with any of those. It's about the process, not the outcome”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:20:13
El-Sayed characterizes Israel's decades-long occupation of Gaza and the West Bank as apartheid.
“They've been able to sustain a apartheid system, which is the only thing you can call sustained nearly six decade long occupation”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:14:48
El-Sayed says U.S. foreign policy should be to enforce international law evenly as first among equals.
“I just think we should be the first among equals to enforce international law”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:15:37
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
El-Sayed says AIPAC spent a record $32 million in his Senate primary.
“AIPAC spent $32 million in my primary. $32 million for one U.S. Senate seat”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:00
El-Sayed told a rally he is dangerous only to corporate PACs and AIPAC, not to voters who want government to work for them.
“If you're APAC and want to send our money abroad, you damn well better believe I'm dangerous”
Pod Save America: The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Jul 21, 2026) · Listen from 50:51
El-Sayed frames the Israel question as whether Israel is entitled to U.S. tax dollars rather than its right to exist.
“The question about Israel is, do they have a right to our tax dollars?”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:29
2026 United States Senate election in Michigan
Asked whether he would campaign for Haley Stevens if she won, El-Sayed pledged only to work against Republican Mike Rogers.
“I'm going to make sure that Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the U.S. Senate”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:09:38
El-Sayed claims his internal polling shows him leading despite $50 million in outside spending.
“our internal polling shows me up pretty substantially, despite the fact that outside spending has hit $50 million in my race”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:05
El-Sayed says he supports more investment in recruitment, retention and retirement for law enforcement alongside non-police safety programs.
“we need more investment in recruitment, retention, and retirement for law enforcement”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 58:59
Islamophobia in the United States
El-Sayed attributes intensifying Islamophobic rhetoric to a fading MAGA movement pushing harder as its tactics lose effect.
“i think that this is the last gasp of a whole mega movement and you have an aging wannabe monarch”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:11:09
El-Sayed says he anticipated attacks on his name and faith after winning the primary and believes they will backfire.
“I saw it coming a mile away. In fact, I'm betting on it”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:07:58
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
El-Sayed contends ICE has become a tool for normalizing paramilitary force rather than enforcing immigration law.
“ICE is about normalizing paramilitary force in contraposition to the constitutional order itself”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 52:04
El-Sayed argues ICE cannot be reformed because a culture of impunity, once established, is nearly impossible to remove.
“anybody who's ever run a government agency will tell you that once you have a culture of impunity set in, it's almost impossible to take that out”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 51:30
Amusing Ourselves to Death
El-Sayed recommends Neil Postman's book as prescient about attention-driven media like TikTok.
“I shudder to think what Postman would make of TikTok”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:32:18
Social determinants of health
El-Sayed says his patient's relapse showed that the U.S. health system is not built to care for socially complex patients.
“And the thing that I hate most about that experience is that that resident was right. And our system is not built to take care of those kinds of patients”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 32:00
Other remarks
El-Sayed argues that American identity is purely national rather than ethnic or religious.
“This is a country where... There is no ethnic identity. There's no religious identity. There is just a national identity”
The Ezra Klein Show: What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe? (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 7:31
Artificial intelligence
El-Sayed describes his AI for democracy plan requiring democratic selection of half the boards of AI hyperscalers.
“making sure that at least 50% of the board representation of every AI hyperscaler is democratically selected”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:22:49
Mitch McConnell health speculation
El-Sayed argues it is wrong for politicians to remain in office until death, citing Dianne Feinstein as a Democratic example.
“The idea that politicians should die in office is crazy”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:21:33
2026 United States midterm elections
El-Sayed says he is worried about the peaceful transfer of power and argues large margins are the best defense against stolen elections.
“The way to make the elections unrigable is to overwhelm them with the power of a message that gets people out to actually win”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:20:10
United States war with Iran
El-Sayed argues Netanyahu manipulated Trump into the war with Iran.
“He got duped into fighting a war that Donald, frankly, Bibi Netanyahu has been trying to find an idiot big enough to fight for the better part of 40 years”
Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:12:40
Appearances
What Does Abdul El-Sayed Believe?The Ezra Klein Show · Sep 25, 2026 · 1 h 34 min
Ezra Klein interviews Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed about his immigrant upbringing, Medicare for All, Islamophobic attacks, and U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestinians.
The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale ImprovesPod Save America · Jul 21, 2026 · 1 h 11 min
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor discuss Trump at the World Cup final, the renewed Iran war, ICE killings, and Democratic primaries in Maine, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the MouthPod Save America · Jul 17, 2026 · 1 h 26 min
Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer dissect Trump's election-conspiracy prime-time address and administration scandals, then Alex Wagner interviews Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Discussed in
Have Republicans Already Blown the Midterms?Pod Save America · Oct 18, 2026 · 1 h 11 min
Dan Pfeiffer and Cook Political Report's Amy Walter assess the 2026 midterm landscape two weeks out, covering Senate and House races, polling, Trump, and redistricting.
Choosin' Texas with Bobby PulidoPod Save America · Sep 27, 2026 · 1 h 2 min
Live at the Texas Tribune Festival, the Pod Save America hosts assess Texas and national midterm races, Xi Jinping's visit, and interview congressional candidate Bobby Pulido.
The Democratic Party's Civil WarPod Save America · Jul 19, 2026 · 1 h 6 min
Dan Pfeiffer and Run for Something's Amanda Litman discuss Graham Platner's Maine collapse, DSA's rise, the Michigan Senate primary, AIPAC spending, and down-ballot recruitment.
The Race to Replace Graham PlatnerPod Save America · Jul 10, 2026 · 1 h 24 min
Dan Pfeiffer and Alex Wagner discuss Graham Platner's exit from Maine's Senate race and the Iran war, then Pfeiffer interviews North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper.
Trump Sabotages Trump AgendaPod Save America · Jun 26, 2026 · 1 h 34 min
Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer discuss Trump canceling a housing bill signing, DSA wins in New York primaries, and JD Vance, then Favreau interviews Texas gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa.
Often appears with
- Jon Favreau · 2 shared episodes
- Ezra Klein · 1 shared episode
- Jon Lovett · 1 shared episode
- Tommy Vietor · 1 shared episode
- Dan Pfeiffer · 1 shared episode
- Alex Wagner · 1 shared episode