“Step Up, Pick Up The Baton, And Run As Hard As I Can” — Abdul El-Sayed Sits Down With NBC’s Meet The Press
MICHIGAN – Yesterday morning, NBC’s Meet the Press aired an interview between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and host Kristen Welker. The sitdown—which took place ahead of a town hall in Mount Pleasant—touched on how President Obama inspired him to run for office, on the need to win by “massive numbers” to combat Trump and Mike Rogers election lies, and his plans to build a fairer economy that works for Michiganders.
SEE KEY CLIPS BELOW:
On How President Obama Inspired Him
Abdul: “I can’t say how much I appreciate President Obama. I’ve read everything he’s written twice. It’s because he was the president of my 20s. It was the first time I’ve ever seen myself in politics. I remember when he gave that […] 2004 DNC speech and I had never seen politics look like that. He showed me something in myself I never would have seen without him. I mean, his run—the elegance, the grace, the commitment under pressure, the basket of terrible things he was handed by the Bush era, whether it was a failing economy, wars, a healthcare system that was deeply broken—and the way that he handled it all. That is so much appreciation for what he showed me in me, what he showed our country, the fact that he went first, and also, there are so many things that I would point to and say ‘I wish we could have that again.’ But, my job is to step up, pick up the baton, and run as hard as I can. and I appreciate that President Obama understands that in history. He understands that, you know, he did his best with the circumstances he had, and it’s the opportunity to pass that along to another generation of leaders, who are going to pick up and fight on the moral beliefs that we fight on.”
On The Need To Win By ‘Massive Numbers’
Abdul: We’ve got to win by massive numbers.
Welker: Or else what?
Abdul: Donald Trump has already threatened to do what he did in 2020, which is deny the outcomes of an election. And right now he is president of the United States. He has weaponized ICE in ways that are really quite dangerous if you think about the implications for our democracy. So, yes, we have to win by massive numbers. The guy I’ve running — I’m running against, he insinuates that he didn’t actually lose in [2024] He talks about this — this mythical van that showed up in Detroit with a bunch of votes, as if he didn’t lose. That’s the guy I’m running against right now. And he said that in a time when Joe Biden was president. Now you’ve got Donald Trump as president, so we’ve got to win by massive enough numbers that it is unquestionable that we won.
On Taxing Billionaires And Building A Fairer Economy
Abdul: Billionaires should pay their fair share back into the system. I believe that means we have to pass a wealth tax. I think when you start taxing billionaire wealth, you have the opportunity to return trillions of dollars back to the economy to allow other people to participate. I think right now, about kids going to school in Detroit. They’re going to school in buildings that look like they did 50 years ago. I don’t know that they have the opportunities to be able to go and become that millionaire. So what should we do? I think we should tax billionaire wealth, take some of that money, bring it back to public education. Take some of that money, build schools and roads, provide health care, provide child care. I’m a capitalist, but I believe that too many people can’t participate in capitalism, ’cause what we have right now is actually corporatism. And if we’re not serious about actually making sure everybody can participate in capitalism, that we’re not serious about capitalism.
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