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El-Sayed said his Friday conversation with Obama was “really
warm and inspiring." The candidate did not provide details.
“I was grateful for his advice. It was very warm, very inviting,
and I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is
going to play,” El-Sayed told NBC’s “Meet the Press."
Asked if he would like to see Obama come to Michigan to drum up
support for Democrats before the midterm elections in November,
El-Sayed said he “really” hoped so and that Obama “knows a lot
about winning Michigan” after carrying the state in the 2008 and
2012 presidential races.
An Obama spokesperson confirmed the call.
The discussion came the same day that a group of Michigan
nominees and other notable national Democrats tried to present a
united front at a rally in Detroit. The crowd cheered loudest
for El-Sayed, a former public health official who last week
narrowly beat establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a
contentious and closely watched primary. A Democratic victory in
the fall is crucial to the party's chances of regaining a Senate
majority.
Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is not seeking reelection in the
perennial swing state, which Republican Donald Trump won in 2016
and 2024, while Democrat Joe Biden carried in 2020.
El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman who
narrowly lost the Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in 2024
and has tried to capitalize on lingering tensions within the
Democratic Party.
Rogers has released a video message attempting to appeal to
Democrats who feel their party may be moving too far to the left
with El-Sayed. “You have a home with us," Rogers says in the
video.
During an interview Sunday with CNN's “State of the Union,” El-Sayed
acknowledged that "we aired our differences” in the heated
primary. But he said the internal divisions are "so much smaller
than the similarities that we share.”
“You’re seeing folks come together,” El-Sayed said, before
adding of moderate Democrats, “We might see the world
differently. But we also recognize the responsibility to come
together.”
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