IHIP News
Abdul El-Sayed Slams His AIPAC-Owned Opponents as Dems Launch Attacks Against Him
11 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: What are Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's main goals in the Michigan Senate race?
Okay, I am joined today in studio, one of the hottest races in America. Of course, I'm talking about the Michigan Senate race. I have Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He is a physician, a former public health official running for U.S. Senate in Michigan. He has spent his entire career eliminating medical debt and taking on corporate polluters.
And now he's running a campaign focused on ending corporate influence in politics and standing up for working people. That is such a joy to read that, that you're interested in helping people with medical debt and corporate polluters. How are you today?
Chapter 2: How does Dr. El-Sayed view the current state of the federal government?
I am well. It's such a privilege to be here with you. We talk about refreshing the content you're putting out, the conversation that you're leading. I just really appreciate you. So it's an honor and privilege to be with you.
Thank you. All right. So right now we have an incompetent federal government, especially the executive branch and Arguably in Congress, for sure in Congress, not even arguably. And gas prices are something that cannot be spun. a triple Trumper, an independent, a leftist, anybody's gonna go and fill their car up and it's something that you cannot escape from.
What do you see, if you were in the Senate right now, what would you be demanding of your colleagues in this very moment?
Yeah, well, I mean, we filled up last week $20 more than we had a month ago. And that's a consequence of our tax dollars being used to raise our gas prices. There are two parts to this job. There is the procedural part of the job and then there's the platform part of the job. I think too many folks in the U.S. Senate forget that there's the whole platform part of the job. Your job in the U.S.
Senate is not just to do the procedural things.
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Chapter 3: What are the consequences of corporate influence in politics according to Dr. El-Sayed?
It's to make sure that you are narrating outcomes for people and explaining what's going on. And I think part of the problem is that Democrats have kind of forgotten how to persuade. Like we've given up on the idea that there are people out there who are persuadable.
And so if we're talking at all, we're talking specifically to people who already agree with us rather than going out there into the places where people can be won over because you're exactly right. If you're filling up your... honker truck, at the end of the day, you're paying a lot more money to do it because of the consequences of your tax dollars. Go take that argument out to the people.
But then there's a procedural part. And too often, you've got this obsession with like procedure as it's supposed to go in Congress. And my point is, if you're in the US Senate right now, your job is to put sand in the gears. That's the job. I mean, you saw it on the other side with Tommy Tuberville. holding up all of these appointments because he didn't get what he wants.
I think part of the problem is we're used to losing and we assume that we're the ones who have to play by the rules all the time. I'm so sorry this is a fight. In a fight, there's not a script. In a fight, there is not a business as usual. They're not pretty things. If you're serious about fighting,
then you've got to be both out there fighting with words and then fighting with procedure, trying to throw sand in the gears to interrupt and disrupt this Trump administration's insane approach to both war and governance and ICE and all of this. It's not going along to get along anymore.
If you really do believe that this is an existential threat to our democracy, then you better start acting like it.
I completely agree. I remember when Obama was president and Mitch McConnell, minority leader at the time, I mean, wreaked havoc forever. And so I don't buy into this. Oh, there's nothing really we can do, especially when you look at the approval ratings of the Democratic Party. And I want to be clear. I want Democrats to win. I love it when Republicans lose.
And let me tell you why I love it when Republicans lose. Part of it is for spite. But another part of it is because I lived in a state for 51 years, Oklahoma, where Republican super majorities got everything they wanted. And we went from 17th in the country in education down to 50th. Right now, the Republicans have everything they want. They have the House. They have the court.
They have the Senate. They have the executive branch. And they still are unhappy. And they have completely made a catastrophe of.
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Chapter 4: How does Dr. El-Sayed propose to address rising gas prices?
of this country and to me the through line that i'm in my own political evolution right now it seems to be that when corporations are giving and funding trump and funding fascism these oligarchs are the ones that are funneling money to fascism but they also you find out there's a palantir check here for this democrat and there's an aipac check here for this democrat
It just seems to me like they're paid, controlled opposition. And I certainly understand why the Democrats' approval rating is so low right now, because you feel like, do you believe in anything?
I mean, that's exactly the point. Donald Trump has this one neat trick. He will blame every problem you have on an immigrant. You're out of a job, immigrant took your job. Out of healthcare, immigrant took your healthcare. Out of housing, immigrants living in a house you should have been able to afford.
We have a far better set of answers, which is if you're out of a job, it's probably because a corporation figured out how to offshore automate your job. I mean, think about AI, like that's been the entire business model is to automate all of the jobs. If you're out of a home, it's probably because a corporation is speculating on the home that you probably should have been able to afford.
If you're out of healthcare, it's because a corporation is definitely figuring out how to monetize you because you get sick. And we don't say that because too often, Democrats are taking money from the very same corporations who are part of the problem. So if you can't actually say that, you end up saying nothing at all.
We end up with these like mealy mouth, 10 point plans about how we're going to solve this and that. And we dress it up in a bunch of policy speak that itself is incoherent and actually not really consistent with the real problem. Like I'm all for really good policy. I write policy books. But policy is secondary to politics.
And your job as a politician is to go out and explain to folks why the problem exists and what you're going to do about it. But if you're part of the problem... You have no actual incentive to explain the problem. So we sound ridiculous. And then what happens is, this is the worst thing, is that consultants come in and they tell you, well, listen, we did this poll and here's the popular thing.
You should just say this popular thing. And it turns out that the job is not about saying what's popular. It's about making popular what's right. But then even beyond that, if you're not saying something that's particularly popular because it's like kind of obvious, then the consultants tell you, we got to say it with some charisma. So you're out there, right?
And you're watching these politicians say obvious shit charismatically. And you're like, why are you so excited about that? That's obvious, right? So people are like, public option. You're like, really? That's the best you can do? People are out here going bankrupt over their... And now you're talking about a public option that's going to be just as unaffordable as the private options.
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Chapter 5: What does Dr. El-Sayed believe is the role of persuasion in politics?
I asked you a yes or no question. We are in the throes of a full-blown fascist takeover with a president who, in my opinion, is committing war crimes by the day. I feel like the entire federal government is run like a bunch of dirty cops. They're supposed to protect us, but they're dirty as hell. So I'm going to ask you some rapid-fire questions. Yes or no? Abolish ICE. Yes.
What's the minimum tax rate a billionaire should pay? Give me a number. 8%.
On wealth. Okay. Not just income.
Cut off military aid to Israel. Yes or no?
Yes. Offensive and defensive. Agree.
A parent in Michigan is scared their trans kid's health care will be taken away. What do you say to them right now? One to two sentences.
Rights are rights. We have a responsibility to stand for all rights. I don't care if you're ever going to use those rights or you're not. The minute you allow somebody to take away one person's rights, you are assenting to your rights being taken away. If you cannot stand for trans rights, do not be surprised when they come for your rights. We have a responsibility to stand for everybody.
And that is about our relationship to government. I don't care if you don't understand. I want you to understand that all of our rights are intertwined. So yes, we have a responsibility to stand up to trans rights because we have a responsibility to stand up to human rights.
I agree. Okay. Rejecting corporate PAC money, yes or no?
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