A resurfaced 2022 interview shows Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed blaming slavery for America's healthcare system and branding anyone who objects to publicly funded care for illegal immigrants as racist, claims that shed new light on a candidate already dogged by controversy.
In the interview, El-Sayed argued that "structural racism" is the central reason the United States has never adopted Medicare for All or another universal, government-run healthcare program. He claimed that racism "continues to flummox our capacity as a society to invest in collective public goods" and that its influence remains "more powerful than the self-interest of... lower income white folks... in legacy confederacy states," the New York Post reported.
El-Sayed, a doctor who lost a 2018 bid for Michigan governor and is now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, went further. He framed the entire American insurance model as a product of racial hierarchy, saying that "in this country we have a privatized, partitioned health insurance system" where "the value of providing care, the reimbursement of providing care to different people's bodies, differs based on how much money they make." He added: "And how much money they make because of structural racism differs based on the color of their skin."
The most politically charged moment in the 2022 interview came when El-Sayed addressed the question of healthcare for illegal immigrants. He characterized any objection to publicly funded coverage for that population as a racial smear tactic:
"They'll use examples of, you know, people who... are undocumented immigrants to this country, and they'll say, well, you know, your health care monies are going to pay for those undocumented folks, which will be a deliberate, racist attack."
That framing leaves no room for honest disagreement. Under El-Sayed's logic, a taxpayer who simply asks why her premiums should cover someone who entered the country illegally is not raising a legitimate fiscal or legal question, she is committing a racist act. It is a rhetorical move designed to shut down debate before it starts.
El-Sayed also dismissed opposition to Medicare for All as rooted in "Reagan-esque trope[s]" and anxieties about care "being unearned." In a separate Instagram post, he claimed that "black bodies are valued at a lower rate than white children in US healthcare." He has publicly supported taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants and won the Democratic primary on a platform that includes abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The resurfaced interview is not the first time El-Sayed's past statements have created problems. He deleted videos from his YouTube channel in which he said Fourth of July "fireworks suck," questioned whether American football was "ethical," and suggested the Second Amendment right to bear arms should be eliminated.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," El-Sayed tried to put distance between himself and his own record, telling the host: "I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do rather than this idea that we're so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020." The appeal to "cancel culture" is notable from a candidate who, in the same race, labeled his opponents' healthcare concerns a "deliberate, racist attack."
El-Sayed also used the NBC appearance to defend the potentially $3.5 trillion annual price tag of Medicare for All, arguing that middle-class Americans should foot the bill. He asked viewers to imagine paying more in taxes instead of paying a health insurance company "whose CEO makes $20 million a year", framing the trade-off as one "worth making."
During the Democratic primary, El-Sayed campaigned alongside far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who in 2019 remarked that "America deserved 9/11", a comment Piker has since walked back. El-Sayed refused to disavow Piker, though he did distance himself from the Democratic Socialists of America despite having drawn support from prominent democratic socialists including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
El-Sayed holds a narrow 1.8 percentage point lead over former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the RealClearPolitics polling average, a margin thin enough that every resurfaced clip carries weight. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the 2022 interview.
Rogers has already drawn support from unexpected quarters. More than 400 Jewish Democrats in Michigan have backed the Republican over El-Sayed, and Rogers has actively courted voters who feel the Democratic Party has moved too far left, a group that keeps growing as more of El-Sayed's record comes to light.
El-Sayed's controversies extend beyond healthcare. He drew backlash from Indian-Americans and women voters over a swipe at Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President J.D. Vance, adding another constituency alienated by a candidate who presents himself as a champion of inclusion.
Meanwhile, Rogers has assembled a coalition of Democratic defectors, a sign that the Republican sees a real opening among voters who reject the kind of politics El-Sayed practices: brand every disagreement as bigotry, delete the evidence when it becomes inconvenient, and hope nobody checks the tape.
Michigan voters can decide for themselves whether a candidate who calls fiscal objections racist, scrubs his own YouTube history, and campaigns with a man who said America deserved 9/11 is the person they want representing them in the United States Senate. The record is out there, even the parts he tried to erase.
