Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sharply criticized Republican opponent Mike Rogers during a student town hall at Michigan State University. El-Sayed questioned whether Rogers would participate in a debate, saying he would attend the GOP midterm convention but “he not gonna show up” for their debate. El-Sayed also attacked Rogers over his post-9/11 voting record, accusing him of voting twice against healthcare for first responders. The Democratic candidate discussed healthcare, artificial intelligence and housing with students and reporters. El-Sayed and Rogers are set to face off in Michigan’s November 3, 2026, Senate election, which has been rated a toss-up.
#AbdulElSayed #MikeRogers #Michigan #SenateRace #Midterms #Election2026 #MichiganPolitics #USPolitics #Democrats #Republicans #GOP #Healthcare #SenateElection #Politics
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#AbdulElSayed #MikeRogers #Michigan #SenateRace #Midterms #Election2026 #MichiganPolitics #USPolitics #Democrats #Republicans #GOP #Healthcare #SenateElection #Politics
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NewsTranscript
00:03Thank you, Spartans!
00:08And that's the only time in my life you ever will hear me say that.
00:12It is such an honor to be with you guys today.
00:14I do just want to, before we begin, I want to commemorate the 25th anniversary of September 11th attacks in
00:242001.
00:25And in honor of all that we lost, the 3,000 folks, including first responders who bravely rushed in,
00:31if we could just observe a moment of silence.
00:41So with that, you just heard from your incredible congressional nominee, William Lawrence.
00:46Can we give him a hand?
00:55And Ben from More Perfect Union, the whole More Perfect Union team, can we give them a hand?
01:06So let's remember what we're here to do.
01:08Money out of?
01:09Politics!
01:10Money in your?
01:11Politics!
01:11Medicare for?
01:12Law!
01:13One more time so that they hear you in Ann Arbor.
01:16Money out of?
01:18Politics!
01:18Money in your?
01:19Politics!
01:20Medicare for?
01:21Law!
01:21I love it!
01:22I love it!
01:22I love it!
01:23I love it!
01:23Thank you all so much for making the time.
01:28To you, hopefully you guys can also win without cheating.
01:35There was an actual one minute left.
01:36They explained the whole thing.
01:39Listen, when it comes to winning without cheating, that's become kind of hard for some of the folks in the
01:46GOP.
01:48You already hear where they're headed with this.
01:50The guy I'm running against, the guy named Mike Rogers.
01:53Who?
01:55Who?
01:56Who?
01:56Who?
01:56Who?
01:57Who?
01:57Who?
01:57Who?
01:57Who?
01:58Who?
01:59Who?
02:00Who?
02:02Who?
02:02He thinks he...
02:03He actually won the 2024 election!
02:06He's been paling around with Donald Trump for way too long.
02:09You might have seen him together yesterday in Dallas.
02:12Now, in case you were wondering…
02:13there is no Dallas, Michigan.
02:15He was in Dallas, Texas.
02:18Why was he in Dallas, Texas...
02:20Given that he's running for Senate in Michigan and he actually lives in Florida?
02:26because daddy trump told him to come and i guess when daddy trump calls you
02:33and you take orders from daddy trump you go he gave a whole speech and you know what he didn't
02:39talk about didn't talk about the price of gas didn't talk about the price of groceries
02:47didn't talk about how hard it is to see a doctor didn't talk about the challenges facing our
02:54schools or how expensive it has become to get a higher education he didn't talk about any of those
03:00things instead he wanted to make the whole thing about a streamer in california kind of odd now
03:12we're talking about three different states that are michigan went from florida to texas to talk
03:18about a guy in california habibi you're running in michigan you should be talking about gas prices
03:23in michigan and good schools in michigan and health care in michigan but that's not what they want to
03:30talk about look i'm never i was never supposed to run for office all right when i was your age
03:36at that school down 23 i wanted to be a doctor i want to be a doctor because it shouldn't
03:43matter
03:44where you grew up in this country there shouldn't be a 10-year life expectancy difference if you go 15
03:49minutes you deserve a long healthy life in these united states of america and then i went to med
03:54school only to realize that our health care system was more interested in billing than healing
03:58so i went into public health got to rebuild a health department in the city of detroit ledway
04:03county's department of health human and veteran services we put glasses on kids took on corporate
04:08polluters eliminated medical debt put narcan in vending machines for free and i'm never going
04:14to forget the day sitting in my office almost two years ago when this administration froze federal
04:20funds y'all remember that and i'm trying to figure out how to make sure one more round of wick
04:25checks go
04:25out how to make sure that our federally qualified health centers don't shut down so people don't lose
04:32their health care how to make sure that kids keep getting the vaccines they need that actually do
04:37save lives regardless of what rfk junior says when i got a notification that our current u.s senator was
04:44not seeking re-election there'd be an open u.s senate seat now to ask myself where's the fight for
04:48the
04:48public's health now if i were to be elected i'd be the first democratic doctor elected to the u.s
04:53senate
04:53in nearly 50 years
04:57first ever public health official elected the u.s senate and if you're kind of tired of dodging
05:01lettuce in the united states of america i think we all could agree we probably need a public health
05:04senator right about now
05:07but here's the thing about it i ran for office eight years ago i ran for governor
05:13and i said something in that race i think folks weren't quite ready to hear
05:15said donald trump is not himself the disease of our politics donald trump
05:19is the worst symptom of the disease of our politics the disease is the system that allows
05:24billionaires corporations special interests to buy and sell politicians in ways that leave them
05:30rigging the system against us they leave us paying more for all the stuff we gotta buy getting paid less
05:36for the work we do watching as our tax dollars get misspent to drop bombs on other people and their
05:40kids instead of investing in our schools and our kids and our infrastructure here at home
05:46so we built a campaign to do three simple things y'all already already know what they are money out
05:50of money in europe medicare for and it's taken us all over the state 110 different cities 550 public
05:58events for my troubles the corporations and the special interests decided they really wanted to
06:03validate my message they spent 70 million dollars in that primary to try and beat me 70 million dollars
06:08got out spent 11 to 1. apac alone spent 32 million dollars set a record on the amount that they
06:15spent
06:16against me and guess what happened we won anyway
06:25but the job's not done the job is not done
06:30we've got 53 days left to work the guy i'm up against he was in congress for 14 years in
06:38fact he was in
06:38congress on that day 25 years ago when 3 000 of our fellow americans were killed in a terrorist
06:50attack and rather than vote to make sure that the brave first responders
06:55who ran into the rubble that day to save lives rather than to make sure that they had health care
07:00he voted not once but twice against giving them health care literally told a first responder who
07:07had part of his foot amputated it's a new york problem
07:13that's right
07:17but that's in keeping with the fact that he just generally will vote to deny people health care in
07:21the first place voted 19 times
07:26to keep prescription drug prices high 19 times
07:30helped to architect legislation to expand opioids in a time when we already knew
07:35it was an epidemic
07:38then
07:39he left congress in 2014 retired
07:42to a mcmansion in two yachts in florida making 14 million dollars
07:45doing advisory work for the exact same corporations
07:48that he had been regulating when he was in congress
07:51that's some revolving door corruption shit
07:55and here's the crazy thing he wants one more ride through the revolving door
08:00because here's the thing about it his advisory work
08:02he was working with companies to provide nuclear technology to saudi arabia
08:08he was working with a company to enable a dictator in venezuela
08:15to spy on his own people like you can't make this shit up
08:19and now he wants to be a u.s senator representing our state
08:25despite the fact that the only thing he's done with his time in office is to serve corporations
08:32he is corporate captured corrupt and cowardly
08:35dude goes all the way to dallas because daddy trump told him to do it
08:38but we got a debate next week
08:40and guess what
08:41he's not going to show up
08:43so when people in dallas
08:45want to hear him speak
08:46he's happy to do it
08:48but when people in detroit want to ask him questions
08:50no
08:51not interested
08:53got 53 days
08:55this is a movement that's not just about beating trump and trumpism
09:00this is about what we can build when we do
09:03this is about the opportunity
09:04so that you graduate into a world where you don't have to worry about whether or not
09:08there's going to be a job for you
09:10because ai hasn't taken 50 of the available jobs
09:13it's about building the kind of world where you don't have to worry
09:16if you're ever going to be able to afford a home
09:18don't have to worry about whether or not
09:20if and when you decide to have kids
09:22you get the right to choose when and with whom
09:25and in what circumstances to have them
09:26and whether or not they're going to have child care
09:29when they're born
09:30it's about building the kind of america
09:31where you don't have to worry about losing your health care
09:34when you turn 26
09:35so that you can have health care guaranteed for you
09:37no matter what happens
09:38and it's about standing up to the corporations
09:40who tell us that we cannot have those things
09:42in the first place
09:43because they're so busy buying and selling politicians
09:48to get their way
09:50that's what this is about
09:51now here's the thing
09:52they're going to tell us that we can't win
09:54that it's not possible for us to actually have those things
09:57they're going to tell us that we cannot guarantee
10:00debt free and tuition free college education
10:03they're going to tell us that
10:04so sorry unions get in the way of our bottom line
10:08can't have them
10:09they're going to tell us
10:10that it's perfectly okay
10:12if they want to put a data center in your backyard
10:13because they're building the ai that's going to come for your jobs
10:17but when they come for us
10:19when they come for
10:22our future
10:24we've got to remember that actually it's our future
10:26and we're going to have a stake in it
10:27so when they tell us we cannot have union rights
10:30we won't
10:31back down
10:32when they tell us that we cannot have guaranteed health care in this country
10:36we won't
10:37back down
10:39when they tell us that they want to send our money to do apartheid and genocide and war
10:43we will back down
10:46when they come for our basic voting rights
10:48we will back down
10:51and when they come to take our voice for the next generation
10:53we will back down
10:56it is our democracy and our future we are fighting for
10:59I'm so grateful to fight for it alongside you
11:02we've got 53 days left to work
11:04now let's go win this thing
11:05thank you so much
11:14all right
11:15so we're going to do a little bit of a mass discussion here
11:17and then we're going to switch into Q&A afterward
11:19I'm going to ask for a little bit of interaction here
11:22they're screaming outside
11:23they're so excited
11:24come on now
11:26okay
11:26so we're going to focus on AI for a second here
11:29so work with me
11:30I'm going to ask you to raise your hands
11:33can you raise your hand
11:34if you're worried about your ability to get a well-paying job in your field
11:38after you graduate
11:40geez
11:41right
11:43are there any architecture design or art majors in the room here
11:48can you put up your hand
11:49oh you got one right in the front here
11:52can I get a mic runner over here
11:56so I'm going to have you say your name
11:58your major and what would it mean for chat GPT to replace you
12:04what would be lost
12:06I'm Lacey Sokol
12:08I'm a first year graphic design major
12:10and chat GPT or really any AI
12:14any generative AI
12:15basically is a lot of what's like done in my field
12:20and I wouldn't be able to find any form of work
12:24if chat GPT was to take over that like field
12:27yeah
12:28so Abdul
12:30what's your message for students who are worried about AI replacing jobs
12:34that they're prepared for
12:37and feel like they have no input on the implementation of AI
12:40what would you do in the Senate to fix that
12:42first of all
12:44I'm sorry
12:45and second of all
12:47this to me is the existential crisis of our moment
12:50the thing that used to keep me up at night
12:51was that people don't get healthcare
12:53that still keeps me up at night
12:56but
12:57to me the big existential risk of our moment is AI
13:00and it's not the technology
13:01I mean y'all probably
13:03almost all you probably have some sort of chat or cloud account
13:05am I wrong?
13:07but
13:08it's the incentive driving the technology
13:11and this is the problem
13:12there has never been a technology
13:14that we've seen come on the horizon
13:16that young people hated more than their older counterparts
13:21and that's because you all
13:23actually use the tech
13:24and you understand what the real risks are
13:28and the problem with it is that
13:30their interest in this technology
13:32though they try to sell us on the idea
13:33that it's going to cure cancer
13:34and solve climate crisis and all that
13:36the real interest that they have
13:38is to sell it to big corporations
13:39to end the labor bottom line
13:43for all those corporations
13:44which basically is the jobs
13:46that you all are going to this university
13:48to be able to get in the future
13:50and when a few corporations dominate
13:53the creation of a technology
13:56with this much capacity
13:58moving this fast
13:59that is extremely risky
14:02and if I were in your shoes right now
14:04I graduated 2007
14:06so nearly 20 years ago
14:08we graduated into the financial crisis of 2008
14:11it was a reason a lot of people that I graduated with
14:14couldn't get jobs
14:15but it wasn't that there were structurally not jobs to be had
14:18it was that the economy was in a low point
14:21in your case the question ultimately is
14:23if the CEO of Anthropic is telling us
14:26that they're going to take 50% of white collar jobs
14:28like the big question that is looming over your horizon
14:31is like what the hell am I doing here anyway
14:33taking what $60,000 in debt
14:35for a job that may not exist
14:39so ultimately what we need
14:41is regulation that's going to address that problem
14:43so that first part
14:44the social contract question
14:46what does it mean to have a job
14:48in an era of AI
14:49that's progressing as fast
14:52we need number one
14:54I think to pull the corporations
14:55out of the existing big tech infrastructure
14:59rebuild them as public interest corporations
15:02and then appoint at least 50% of the board
15:07via democratically elected or appointed means
15:09and I think the government should own 50%
15:13of the value of those corporations
15:15so that if they are going to actually displace jobs
15:18we've got money ready aside
15:20A to make sure that people can live their lives
15:22but B to start training into the opportunities that exist
15:25but the second problem is the existential risk part
15:27I don't know if you guys saw that tweet
15:29earlier this week
15:30from that former Anthropic employee
15:33who basically like resigned his
15:35one of the few jobs that exist in computer science
15:37and was like I'm resigning
15:38because I'm worried about the doom situation
15:42that I could be creating
15:44and it's not just Anthropic
15:46it's also open AI
15:47they had this situation with the hugging face
15:52hack
15:53where literally
15:54there was like a swarm of AI agents
15:57that had hopped out of their sandbox
15:58weren't supposed to be able to have access to the internet
16:01decided to hack hugging face
16:03and then left each other messages
16:05it was like gang behavior
16:07and so we need real regulation
16:09that A limits what AI can do
16:11shouldn't be able to hire you
16:13shouldn't be able to fire you
16:13shouldn't be able to deny you healthcare
16:15shouldn't be able to shoot a weapon
16:16and we need government oversight
16:18so that we have clear interpretability standards
16:21we know what these AIs are doing
16:22and how they're doing it
16:24and then the last part is data centers
16:26right
16:26like at the end of the day
16:29they should not just be able
16:30to put this huge amount of infrastructure
16:32that sucks up your electricity
16:33and poisons your water
16:34in your backyard without any say on it
16:36so we need a terms of engagement
16:39at the federal level
16:40that guarantees the following
16:41any jobs that they create
16:42are union jobs
16:43number two
16:43no increases in our utility rates
16:45number three
16:45you need to improve
16:46our utility reliability
16:47number four
16:48that you cannot touch our water
16:50and number five
16:50there needs to be a clear
16:52community benefits agreement
16:53negotiated in good faith
16:54openly with the local community
16:56so that a community can say
16:57no we don't want this
16:58or yes we do
16:58but you're going to make us rich
17:00if you put it in our backyard
17:01and this has to happen
17:02at the federal level
17:03why?
17:03because otherwise
17:04the big tech corporations
17:06are going to bully
17:06local communities down to nothing
17:08so you need federal regulation
17:10until then
17:10I believe we need a moratorium
17:13that puts a stop to AI data centers
17:16at the state and local levels
17:17last thing I'll say is this
17:19the speed at which the technology
17:21is being created
17:22has far outpaced the speed
17:24at which we can keep it safe
17:25that much is clear
17:27so like right now
17:28there needs to be a pause
17:29on any new frontier development
17:31until we can actually understand
17:33and predict
17:34what these things are doing
17:36because here's the scary part
17:37imagine you wait two years
17:40you don't have any of this limitation
17:41and these AI gangs
17:42have now taken over parts of the internet
17:44and are holding folks ransom
17:45like that sounds crazy
17:47but there's a reason we do sci-fi
17:49because sometimes our imaginations
17:51are better than our ability
17:53to actually gauge where reality is
17:54and every single sci-fi
17:56about like a sentient technology
17:59goes to one place
18:02they get smarter and stronger
18:04than the rest of us
18:05and then we all are like
18:06alright so what do we do now
18:07right
18:07I've seen Terminator 2
18:10it came out when I was a kid
18:11y'all probably weren't even alive
18:12they were imagining this
18:13before you were even born
18:15so I'm just saying
18:16look
18:16I think we need to be thoughtful about this
18:18now here's the biggest risk
18:20most of the folks in Congress right now
18:24don't necessarily understand
18:25the risk of this technology
18:27and then a lot of the ones who do
18:28are bought off by the folks
18:29who have an interest in this technology
18:32so they're trying to make this ungovernable
18:33and we got to act quickly
18:35before it becomes ungovernable
18:38okay so we're going to move on
18:39to some housing stuff
18:40okay
18:41so
18:41can you raise your hand
18:43if you think your rent is too high
18:47alright
18:48alright
18:49alright
18:50if you're dissatisfied
18:52with the conditions in your apartment
18:54broken appliances
18:55mold
18:56raise your hand
18:59yes
18:59mic drop
19:00see
19:02I actually saw you
19:04over here
19:05raise your hand
19:05really high
19:08could you go into
19:09a little bit
19:10about how much you're paying
19:11for our rent
19:12and what you're dealing with
19:16so I've had the pleasure
19:18this apartment's gotten much better recently
19:20but I had the pleasure
19:20of living in this
19:21raise your voice a little bit
19:22sorry
19:22I had the pleasure of living
19:24in this apartment complex
19:25they charge us about $500 per room
19:27which isn't too crazy
19:28but there's four of us living there
19:29so they're getting $2,000
19:30for this four bedroom apartment
19:31I'd lived with cockroaches
19:33in my apartment
19:33for about six months
19:34I'd reported this
19:35to the leasing office
19:36multiple times
19:37they had sent people out
19:38to fix this issue
19:40also when I moved in
19:41the place was filthy
19:42there's a broken dishwasher
19:44broken washer and dryer
19:46I currently have to run my dryer
19:47like four times
19:49every time I do laundry
19:50which causes me to pay more
19:51in electricity
19:52overall just a terrible
19:54terrible time
19:55so I am looking forward
19:57to some more regulations
19:58for landlords
19:59and some more regulations
20:01on pricing
20:01just because
20:02I feel like that's kind of
20:03ridiculous for me
20:05sounds like you have
20:06a little bit of a delinquent landlord
20:07would you say so?
20:08a little bit
20:10so I want y'all to tell me
20:13we're launching
20:14Rate Your Landlord
20:15which is essentially
20:16Rate Your Professor
20:17but for landlords
20:20where students can submit reviews
20:22for their landlords
20:23for other tenants to see
20:24and MSU is one of the first
20:27in the nation to have it
20:28can you raise your hand
20:29if you'd like to be able
20:30to rate your landlord?
20:33that's what I thought
20:35right?
20:35so what is your plan
20:38to combat skyrocketing rent
20:40and neglect from landlords?
20:42so number one
20:43I just think we need
20:43a renter's bill of rights
20:45you need to know
20:46exactly what you're getting
20:48and what your rights are
20:49over a landlord
20:50that has to be enforceable
20:52via very clear public policy
20:54with the ability
20:55in the end
20:56to shut you down
20:57if in fact
20:58you are violating
20:58that bill of rights
20:59you should know
21:00exactly how
21:01and in what way
21:02you can contest
21:04and what your rights
21:05are going to be
21:06if you complain
21:07two
21:08I think we need
21:09tenants unions
21:11I think the ability
21:12to unionize
21:13as tenants
21:13particularly when it comes
21:14to these really
21:15problematic landlords
21:16I think is absolutely critical
21:17and I think it's important
21:18for folks to be able
21:19to hold accountable
21:21their landlords
21:22if and when
21:23they're violating
21:24your basic rights
21:25on Moss
21:26and then the third thing is
21:28look
21:28you know
21:29at this point
21:30I assume most of you
21:31are students
21:31right
21:32at this point
21:33in your life
21:33it's a usual thing
21:35to be renting
21:36part of the hallmark
21:38of the idea
21:38of the American dream
21:39was that you could
21:40buy a home
21:41at some point
21:42the average age
21:42of home ownership
21:43at this point
21:43is in the 40s
21:44you go back
21:46several decades
21:46and it was in the 20s
21:48and that's because
21:49we just have not built
21:50the housing that we need
21:51and so my hope
21:53is that not only
21:53do you have your rights
21:54as renters now
21:55but you have the ability
21:56to imagine
21:57that you could own a home
21:58which is something
21:58most young people
21:59don't actually imagine
22:00they'll ever be able to do
22:02and so we've got
22:02to be building more
22:03and there was some
22:04really helpful legislation
22:05that just passed
22:05to get there
22:06but the other part of it
22:07is we've got to address
22:08a lot of the problems
22:09in the system
22:10that make it
22:11so that the housing
22:12that's available
22:13is just less available
22:14like one of those things
22:15is Airbnb and Virbo
22:16don't get me wrong
22:16like I like to stay
22:17at Airbnbs and Virbos
22:19but the problem with it
22:20is it enables somebody
22:22with a little bit
22:22of extra money
22:23somewhere else
22:23to buy housing stock
22:25in local communities
22:26and when they can do that
22:27they sit on that housing stock
22:28and they take it out
22:29from the ability
22:30for people to be able
22:31to buy it
22:31that changes the price
22:32of housing for everybody
22:33and I think those corporations
22:36right
22:36this big techification
22:37of the housing space
22:38needs to be addressed
22:40those corporations owe it
22:41to be able to put
22:42some of their profits
22:44back into the system
22:45to make sure
22:46that there's affordable housing
22:47for everybody
22:47so
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