The results of last night's Senate primary race have the president of the United States tonight lashing out.
And the polls were wrong again last night when they thought it would be a landslide victory for a hater of Jews and a hater of Israel. This guy hates Jews. Somebody said, 'Oh, that's a little strong.' No, he hates Jews and he hates Israel. Abdul El-Sayed. Can you believe this? This could only happen to me. Abdul El-Sayed, lovely gentleman. He's a man of hate. And now he's going around saying, 'No, I love everybody.' He doesn't love everybody. Put him in office, you're going to find out what he loves. He doesn't love Israel. He doesn't love Jewish people. He hates them. He hates them with a passion that burns in his heart. And there's not a freaking thing he can do about it. There's not a thing he can do about it because he hates them. But everyone, every time this has happened and you do that, you go through squalor and add the word again: filth, crime, death, destruction, embarrassment, you lose your home, you lose your apartment, and that's where the communists will take us 100%. When I watch Abdul, he's full of [__].
What is your response to the president?
I'm glad he thinks I'm a lovely gentleman. A lot of people think so. Look, you know, this is the response that they have. You notice what he talked about. First, look at the background. It says no tax on tips. The man can't stay on focus. That's like the one thing that he did to offer any economic relief. But instead of that, he's more focused on me and what I'm going to do while we're living through an affordability crisis that is generational. People are paying nearly $5 in gas because of a war he started. And half the time, if he's not talking about me, he's talking about the drapes in his ballroom. So, at the end of the day, you know, I invite the president to focus on what I'm saying. I want to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, and pass Medicare for all. I think a lot of Michiganders want that right now. And I think Mike Rogers, for his own part, is running away from Donald Trump himself. When you ask Mike Rogers about his position on the war or his position on Trump's tariffs, he is mum. So, look, I'm looking forward to tying Mike Rogers to Donald Trump all day, every day, but I do agree with the part where he says, 'I'm a lovely gentleman.' I'm not sure he meant that, but we'll leave it at that.
You mentioned what your campaign message was over the last several months. You defeated Haley Stevens for the nomination by what right now I think is one percentage point. What does a margin that close tell you about what the next 90 days need to look like for your campaign?
Look, we as a party have to come together. You know, we had a hard-fought battle. There were some disagreements between folks who might have voted for me or folks who might have voted with the congresswoman. But I also know that the things that unite us are so much bigger than whatever it is that divides us. We have an opportunity right now to come together to embrace the idea that we can have an America that is affordable, because Michiganders right now are suffering. We can actually address the housing crisis. We can address the fact that too many people worry about the fact that they might get sick and don't have the healthcare that they need and deserve. Mike Rogers is exactly the opposite of that. Mike Rogers spent his 14 years in Congress taking check after check after check, totaling more than a million dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, for which he voted 19 times to raise prescription drug prices, helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic. 600,000 people dead. So I want to give you healthcare. He wants to take it away. I provided Narcan in 100 vending machines for free. He helped to kick off a crisis for which that Narcan had to be the answer. The difference couldn't be more certain, and we have an opportunity to come together to defeat him, defeat Trumpism, hold him accountable, and start actually addressing the challenges that people in Michigan are facing.
You know, it was a really tough primary, obviously. I mean, at one point you described Haley Stevens as a suit with a large APAC account. Said hopefully they could find some ways to teach her how to string together two coherent sentences. Says that was your quote. She is now supporting you now that you have won the nomination. Are you going to invite her to campaign with you out on the trail?
Look, we need everybody together to beat Mike Rogers. I'm grateful. We had a great conversation this morning. We talked about a hard-fought primary. You know, I've known the congresswoman since 2018, since we ran together. And again, whatever our disagreements, we know that the disagreements we have with Mike Rogers and Donald Trump are so much bigger. And in the heat of a primary, you're going to say some things you later on would rather have not said. And I think we have an opportunity right now to focus on what needs to be said, which is that Mike Rogers is an existential threat to the affordability of Michiganders, which is already pretty low. That taking on Donald Trump and holding him accountable for his abuses of power is a critical goal, and that addressing the fact that people deserve healthcare and housing and good schools is a key goal that we all share. So, we're coming together as we need to do to defeat Mike Rogers and defeat Trumpism.
Well, so given how many votes she got, will she be on the campaign trail with you?
Look, I should hope so. That's a choice that she gets to make. But all of us coming together around the slate that we've built. And look, we've got some great candidates on that slate. You think about the lieutenant governor, Garland Gilchrist, Ellie Savitt, with whom I've worked during my time at the city of Detroit, obviously Jocelyn Benson, who won her campaign handily, our secretary of state and soon-to-be governor. There's a lot on this ticket that Michiganders can have a lot of hope in. And so I'm looking forward to campaigning together to win the future where we take on Trumpism and Mike Rogers. And I'm hoping that Congresswoman Stevens and Senator McMorrow, who was with me earlier today, will be out there on the trail talking about what we need to do to build a future where we get money out of politics, put money in pockets, and pass Medicare for all.
Well, and this seat is so critical for your party to win control of the Senate in Washington. We've heard some Democrats who are worried that you cannot defeat Mike Rogers come November. How do you plan to address those concerns from people in your own party?
We don't need worry. We need work. You know, we took on $70 million of outside spending and an 11-to-1 funding gap, spending gap on the airwaves. And we took it on because we did the work. 12,000 people knocking nearly 10,000 doors a day. We started this campaign 15 months ago, having conversations in rooms of five or 50 people at a time. And so that's how we're going to beat Mike Rogers the old-fashioned way, brick by brick. So if you're worried right now, get to work. That's the work that we need to do. And I can tell you on our campaign, we're going to be out there knocking doors, having those conversations that are what our democracy is about. But worrying and Democrats worrying is not going to solve the problem. You heard Donald Trump at the top of this show. This is a guy who can't even focus on our affordability. He's more interested in saying my name in an interesting way or calling me a lovely gentleman than he is interested in actually solving our problems. We have to stand up to that, which means let's go get to work. Let's go talk to our fellow Michiganders about who we are and who we want to be and what it takes to take on the most corrupt president in American history and his lackey who licks every boot he possibly can of that man, Mike Rogers.
Well, I mean, in addition to work, a lot of money is probably going to be spent here, and you were really critical of outside spending in the primary, especially from APAC. You have pledged not to take a dime of corporate money in your race. Is that still your position tonight?
It is still my position. It is, has been, and always will be.
But will you need help from national Democrats? I mean, will you welcome outside spending? If there's going to be a ton of money being spent on Mike Rogers, do you also want a ton of money being spent from national Democrats on your race?
Look, I wish we lived in a world where there was less outside spending generally. I wish we lived in a world where corporations could not spend on campaigns. I wish we lived in a world where there were no super PACs or 501c4s. But if unions want to spend to uphold union rights, if the Working Families Party wants to spend to get healthcare passed, if the National Nurses United or the Medicare for All PAC wants to spend to push back on the power of big pharma, I think it's important for us to make sure that we are fighting fire with fire. But those are different things. If you're a corporation trying to corrupt a politician, just like Mike Rogers has been corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry, yeah, I think nurses coming in and saying, 'Hey, we're going to bring some funds to help a candidate who wants to stand up to that industry,' that makes sense. But I think we'd all rather live in a world where outside spending was not a thing. And look, the minute I hit the US Senate, I am working toward that world. I want to end Citizens United. I want to ban super PACs and 501c4s and all of this dark money infrastructure that has allowed corporations and special interests to corrupt our politics.
Do you know how much you've raised since last night, the last 24 hours or so?
Honestly, I haven't checked. It has been a whirlwind. But I know it's been a lot. People are really excited about the opportunity we have in this race. They see the clear contrast between a corrupt politician like Mike Rogers who offers nothing new. I mean, this guy hasn't had an original idea since 1994, and a candidate who is new on the scene, wants to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all. That contrast couldn't be more exciting. And it's partly why we saw 500,000 more Democrats vote in our primary than did Republicans. And look, if we can muster that kind of turnout in this next election, we are going to swamp. Mike Rogers will go back to his swamp in Florida, and we'll be headed to the US Senate.
You said before Chuck Schumer doesn't want to see me on the inside of the US Senate. How did your call with Chuck Schumer go today?
Well, you know, at this point I'm the only Democrat standing to come to the inside of the US Senate. And I think we had a good, meaningful, heart-to-heart conversation about what it takes to win in a state like Michigan and what needs to be done to defeat Mike Rogers. So, I'm looking forward to partnering alongside him to win the Senate majority, to keep the state of Michigan, and to win back the gavel for Democrats so that we can start holding Donald Trump accountable. I can't wait to sit across from RFK Jr. and actually grill him. Dude uses big words he does not understand, and I happen to go to medical school, so I kind of understand them. It is going to be a good time holding him accountable for all of the grift that he has pushed on the American public.
So, if you win, that's the Trump official you most want to see testifying before you in the Senate?
I think it's the Trump official that most people would probably like to see me stand up against, because look, I'm a guy with a doctorate in medicine and in public health. He's a guy who takes his kids swimming in Shit Creek.
