Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed has found his past criticisms of Barack Obama’s presidency returning to haunt him in his Michigan Senate race. Just days ago, El-Sayed announced that Barack Obama will join him on the campaign trail later this month—a move aimed at making himself more palatable to voters while simultaneously revealing underlying tensions between them.
Long before running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, El-Sayed served as a college professor and then as public health director of Wayne County. His political ambitions began with a 2018 governor’s campaign that ended in defeat against Gretchen Whitmer; he has never held elected office to date.
In his words, Obama’s presidency was “rife with political blunders,” “pandering to right-wingers,” and “poor choices.” During the 2012 election cycle, El-Sayed—then not an official politician—delivered a blistering critique of Obama in a HuffPost contributor piece. He wrote: “Obama’s re-election last night was no victory.”
El-Sayed further targeted Obama’s failure to end wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—a campaign promise central to the former president’s 2008 victory. Not only did Obama abandon that pledge, but he expanded U.S. military operations into Pakistan and Yemen. He also condemned Obama as a leading proponent of drone strikes, which El-Sayed claimed “perpetuated a climate of American hate, distrust, and destruction.”
The former president’s Affordable Care Act reforms were another focal point for El-Sayed, who argued they delivered “a watered-down reform that kowtows to the interests of health care lobbies before it provides meaningful, secure access to health care for our society’s most desperate.” Additionally, El-Sayed noted Obama “deported more people from our shores than any other president before him,” highlighting his record of removing 3.1 million foreigners through Immigration and Customs Enforcement over two terms—though President Donald Trump is now closing in on this number.
El-Sayed identified Obama’s key strength as his “magnanimous” disposition, “captivating” prose, and “fresh” perspective that he claims duped voters into electing him president. Now, El-Sayed plans to weaponize this same charisma for his Senate campaign. If Michiganders embrace Obama the way Americans did in 2008, he has a strong chance of securing victory.
El-Sayed’s strategy faces challenges from his history with influencers, including recent collaborations with controversial streamer Hasan Piker. Their appearances at events to boost his support have been complicated by Piker’s ongoing commentary on hating America—a stain El-Sayed says Obama can help erase. Pollsters currently lean toward El-Sayed as the favorite over Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s tight Senate race.
