Abdul El-Sayed talks family, fame and passing 'Trumpcare for All'

WASHINGTON — Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed said Democrats have not yet earned a "mandate" and need to "do good things" with their new majorities in Congress in order to win Americans' trust, even after overwhelming victories in last week's blue wave election.

In a Thursday interview on Capitol Hill, the progressive firebrand from Ann Arbor attempted to extend an olive branch to President Donald Trump, proposing that a universal health care program be named "Trumpcare for All."

"Folks understand that there's a moment here, and we can't squander it. We haven't earned the mandate. If anything, this was a vote against Donald Trump and Trumpism, and our job over the next two years is to earn a vote for us, and that's going to be a choice about how we govern," El-Sayed told The Detroit News at his new Senate office overlooking the U.S. Capitol.

"It's not just about stopping the malfeasance; it's about doing good things. If after these next two years, people aren't feeling a little bit less pressure in their lives, then we will not have answered the call."

The newly elected El-Sayed wants to see Congress quickly end the Iran war and costly tariffs, restore impending Medicaid cuts and pass Medicare for All, as well as long-time progressive wish-list items including the PRO Act that would protect and expand collective bargaining rights.

The physician-by-training and former public health official defeated Republican Mike Rogers of White Lake Township by 7 percentage points in the Nov. 3 election to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

Facing a divided government, El-Sayed said he's willing to work with Republicans to accomplish those "good things," including naming legislation to provide universal health care to all Americans after the GOP president.

"My margin in Michigan was a lot bigger than his. So maybe he might want to come call me, and we could talk about what we could do to deliver. ... I'm open to putting his name on, like, the key issue I've been spending my entire career fighting for, right? I'll change the name of my book," said El-Sayed, who penned "Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide" in 2021.

"I will work with anyone when it comes to trying to get money out of politics, put money in pockets and pass TrumpCare for All."

The White House did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Abdul El-Sayed backs Chris Van Hollen for Senate majority leader

El-Sayed said the Democrats' aggressive new agenda requires new leadership in the Senate, which is why he's supporting Maryland's Chris Van Hollen over Chuck Schumer of New York, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and has served in the upper chamber since 1999.

He added that Van Hollen has the requisite knowledge and skills to run the Senate but has also shown he will take risks, like traveling to a Salvadoran prison last year to meet with Kilmar Ábrego García after he was illegally deported there.

"Schumer and I have built a really good relationship over the last three months. Obviously, we did not see eye to eye on the primary, but he was extremely pragmatic about the general, and he and the institutions he commands did what they needed to do to work. And I like him personally," El-Sayed said.

"I just think that this moment calls for new leadership. We're not delivering a historic majority to go back to where we were. This was not a thumbs up to current leadership. This is a deep thumbs down to Donald Trump. The question now is, what do we do to deliver?"

Aligning with colleagues from an auto state to the south

El-Sayed noted that he has received outreach from "unlikely places," meaning Republicans, though he wouldn't drop names. He believes many are "casting about" for what their party's future looks like because Trump "is clearly the past."

"And from the outreach I've gotten from unlikely places, I think a lot of folks are interested in playing ball," El-Sayed said.

"Notwithstanding my contempt for the state of Ohio, I have spoken to folks from Ohio, OK? And what I will tell you is that they understand that we share a future when it comes to fighting for the auto industry and fighting for our working people," El-Sayed said in a likely reference to Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a Republican.

"So a lot of opportunity here, I think, to work, and I think a lot of Republicans are going to surprise folks right now. Donald Trump has lost a lot of power. He knows that."

El-Sayed suggested that the cancellation of planned, GOP-directed Medicaid cuts that start in January could be one area where GOP lawmakers in Congress cross over to vote with Democrats.

"They see the writing on the wall," he said. "Medicaid cuts: Do you know where they're going to be the most disastrous? Rural communities. So if you're from Idaho or Wyoming or Montana or the Dakotas, this is about to destroy your entire healthcare system. They know that."

El-Sayed weighs in on making 'habibi' go viral

El-Sayed feuded with an Ohioan, Vice President JD Vance, during his Senate campaign, with Vance making a series of verbal jabs at El-Sayed while in Michigan, calling him evil, "radical" and a "little weasel." El-Sayed at the time countered by saying Vance should recognize him as a "f------ wolverine."

Last week, El-Sayed caused the phrase "Habibi meaning" to surge and rank among the top Google trending searches after he used the term to refer to Vance in his victory speech after election night.

But "habibi" wasn't in the written draft of his speech for the occasion, he said.

"Habibi was not in the speech, but it was a moment. ... I try to have empathy for all people, obviously, I'm not. I'm not his biggest fan, but you gotta imagine that he's — you gotta be pretty broken to live the kind of hypocrisy that he lives every day."

"He's both smart and takes orders from the dumbest man. So part of it was just like, oh, Habibi, like I feel bad for you, and also Habibi, like, I just beat you. And the whole world is gonna watch my having beat you when you swear me in."

As for that ceremonial swearing-in on Jan. 3, El-Sayed hasn't decided what book he will swear his oath on, except that it will be the Quran.

One possibility, he said, is a copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Quran that was owned by Thomas Jefferson and is now housed at the Library of Congress. Detroit native Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, used this edition for his ceremonial swearing-in in 2007.

Another option is a copy of the Quran housed at the University of Michigan — El-Sayed's alma mater — that's considered the first known Quran in the state of Michigan. It is hundreds of years old, El-Sayed said.

With Vance, he added, "It doesn't have to be awkward if he doesn't want to make it awkward."

Lifestyle changes underway

El-Sayed plans to bring his family to witness his swearing-in in January, including his two daughters, ages 3 and 8.

The self-styled "Girl Dad" said there have been personal highs and lows on his journey to Washington, including some 150 podcast interviews and hundreds of press interviews, as well as days and weeks away from home.

"My 3-year-old has no clue," El-Sayed said of his recent celebrity, smiling. "She's, just, you know, she's excited when I'm home. And I hope that someday I get to tell her how important it was that she was the only person in my life who never cared about the race."

He continued: "My 8-year-old has a real sense of it, especially now after the victory, right? Because everyone's like, hey, you know, your family's made history. I mean, she got to school the next day, and everybody clapped her in."

El-Sayed said he does not plan to move his young family to Washington, citing their support network at home. "To do the job well, you want to spend as much of your time in Michigan anyway," he added.

A difficult part of his rise to political stardom, he said, has been trying to preserve his family's privacy, including never publicly showing his daughters' faces.

"Obviously, you run for U.S. Senate and people know how you are. ... I didn't know it was going to be like this. And we're mourning what that means for a lot of our life," El-Sayed said. "Like I enjoy just on a random day being like, 'Let's go get ice cream.' ... That's not a thing I can do anymore."

"It's just a part of life, and my job is ... to make it as small a part of their life as possible and to empower their lives," the senator-elect added, referring to his daughters.

"I intend to be the best public servant I can, and I intend to be the best private servant I can."

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