Abdul El-Sayed Slams His AIPAC-Owned Opponents as Dems Launch Attacks Against Him

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IHIP News 30 min 2 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 5 months ago
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What are Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's main goals in the Michigan Senate race?

Jennifer Welch 0:04
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?

How does Dr. El-Sayed view the current state of the federal government?

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 0:43
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.
Jennifer Welch 0:55
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?
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 1:27
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.

What are the consequences of corporate influence in politics according to Dr. El-Sayed?

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 1:52
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.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 2:31
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.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 3:21
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.
Jennifer Welch 3:27
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.

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