00:00There is a reason why the Senate race in Michigan is the marquee race of this entire midterm election.
00:14And why is that?
00:15Well, there are a number of reasons.
00:16Number one, it is clear that at a time when the American people are really angry, they're sick and tired
00:25of status quo politics and status quo policies,
00:29you're going to have in this race right now with Mike Rogers running a real clash of ideas.
00:38Where does America go into the future?
00:41Do we stick with Donald Trump and Trumpism and ideology whose goal is to divide us up by the color
00:50of our skin or where we were born or our religion?
00:53Or do we stand with Abdul El-Sayed, who has a very different vision of America, a vision which says
01:02that our economy and our government should work for working families,
01:09for young people, for seniors, for the most vulnerable, and not just for the billionaire class whose super PACs fund
01:19elections.
01:20So number one, you've got a real clash of ideas as to where we go forward.
01:27Do we stick with Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country, or do we move
01:34in a very different direction with Abdul?
01:36Number two, specifically with this race in Michigan, let's own up to it.
01:44Let's be clear. When people like Mike Rogers and the Republican Party have nothing to say about the major crises
01:54facing our country,
01:57about health care, about income and wealth inequality, about a corrupt campaign finance system,
02:04about AI and its impact on working people, about climate change.
02:07When you've got nothing significant to say about the important issues facing working people, what do you do?
02:14You resort to good old-fashioned racism.
02:18And what we are seeing all over the country is just that.
02:24They used that against Mamdani in New York City when he ran for mayor.
02:30We're seeing it in Texas.
02:31We're seeing it all over this country.
02:34We're seeing a growth of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, etc.
02:40And that is something that Abdul is having to deal with right now in Michigan.
02:47Thirdly, what we are seeing in Michigan is what oligarchy and a corrupt campaign finance system looks like.
02:58You're seeing it right up front.
03:00Every time you turn your TV on, you're going to see it with another 30-second ad.
03:05And what that is about is, sadly, we live in a nation today where campaigns are not about a clash
03:15of ideas.
03:16I happen to be really passionate about democracy.
03:19I have my views.
03:20You disagree with me.
03:21Let's argue it out.
03:22You don't want to vote for me.
03:23You don't think I'm a good senator from Vermont.
03:26Vote against me.
03:26It's called democracy.
03:29But what I detest and what is happening right now is not campaigns where you have a clash of ideas.
03:36What you have right now are billionaire-funded super PACs spending unlimited, and I'm underlying the word unlimited.
03:47They have more money than you can dream of.
03:49If you're Elon Musk, you're going to spend a couple hundred million dollars on this midterm election, and somebody says,
03:55hey, Elon, we need a couple hundred million more.
03:57No problem.
03:59They've got all kinds of billionaires.
04:01Do Democratic billionaires play a role?
04:02They do.
04:03But the real money now is on the Republican side.
04:07That is why we end up with a Congress which is not standing up for the working class of this
04:17country.
04:22What Abdul knows, and as we're making very clear, is the American people are angry.
04:30They are angry in Michigan.
04:32They're angry in Vermont.
04:34They're angry all over this country.
04:36And why is that?
04:38And why is there such a detestation, if you like, against the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership?
04:46These parties are not popular at all.
04:49People look to Washington, and they're saying, you know what?
04:54I can't afford groceries.
04:57I can't afford health care.
04:59I can't afford housing.
05:01I can't afford to send my kid to college.
05:05I'm 60 years of age.
05:07I'm an older worker.
05:08I don't have any money in the bank as I face retirement.
05:12And I look around me, and I see the richest people in America becoming richer and richer.
05:20People are angry.
05:22And they're wondering whether government, in fact, can do anything, or whether government is so corrupt,
05:28so owned by the billionaire class, that nothing can happen.
05:34And that is why the campaign in Michigan and Abdul's victory, the need for Abdul's victory, is so very important.
05:45What Abdul is saying very loudly, and I think brilliantly and effectively, is the status quo ain't working.
05:52We need change, we need real change.
05:56What does that mean, in practical terms?
05:59It means, for example, that we have to start dealing with oligarchy and the massive levels of income and wealth
06:06inequality that exists.
06:08Does anybody in their right mind think that it is okay that the top 1% now owns more wealth
06:15than the bottom 94%,
06:17that Elon Musk himself owns more wealth than the bottom 50% of American households?
06:26That is insane.
06:27We have people, I'm here in Washington, D.C. right now, three blocks away from here,
06:31people sleeping out on the streets, kids are going hungry, and you've got one guy who owns more wealth than
06:38the bottom half of American households.
06:41Abdul understands that reality, and he will stand by me and fight for a progressive tax system
06:48which demands that the wealthiest people in this country, especially the billionaires,
06:52start paying their fair share of taxes so that we can adequately fund the social programs that working people
07:00and lower-income Americans depend upon.
07:04Abdul understands, because he is experiencing it right now, man.
07:08I'm sure he understands that we are living with a corrupt campaign finance system.
07:14And I know Abdul well enough to know that he takes ideas very seriously, what he believes in.
07:22And he likes to debate and discuss ideas.
07:25But like the vast majority of the American people, he does not want to see campaigns bought and paid for
07:32by billionaires.
07:33So Abdul is going to work with me to end this corrupt campaign finance system.
07:39It's not only overturning and getting rid of this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision,
07:45it's getting super PACs out of Democratic and Republican primaries.
07:48It's moving back to a democracy, which means one person, one vote, not billionaires buying election.
07:58And that is enormously important, because you're never going to have the kind of Congress that we need
08:02if billionaires are buying elections.
08:06Abdul understands, and I think one of the reasons, you know, I'm supporting a number of candidates all over the
08:12country,
08:12great candidates, but one of the reasons I'm particularly excited about Abdul coming to the U.S. Senate is he
08:19is a doctor.
08:21And he has had personal experience in dealing with a health care system which is broken, is dysfunctional, and is
08:32cruel.
08:34And what Abdul understands, and I understand, is that we need a health care system designed to provide quality care
08:43to every man, woman, and child in this country
08:45without out-of-pocket expense.
08:48Is that a radical idea?
08:51Some kind of communistic, fringy idea?
08:54Well, I guess not every other major country on earth has guaranteed health care to all of their people
09:04and understand that health care is a human right, not a privilege.
09:09And we really do need a doctor right now in the Democratic Caucus.
09:14In the Senate, there are zero doctors.
09:16And Abdul can play a really important role in helping us push forward with Medicare for All.
09:24He's an expert on the subject.
09:25He actually wrote a book called Medicare for All.
09:31And, you know, especially right now when we hear things like Trump going before the United Nations
09:39and saying, oh, I got a very difficult decision to make.
09:43Do I wipe out Iran or not and kill millions of people or not?
09:48I don't really know what to do.
09:49It's a hard decision.
09:51You know, this is crazy stuff.
09:53I mean, this is something that the American people should never, ever be part of.
09:57What Trump is talking about is a war crime.
10:03And we cannot allow that type of mentality to prevail in any way, shape, or form.
10:09Not to mention the fact that we are now spending over a trillion dollars on the military
10:16and Trump would like another half a trillion on top of that
10:20while Trump and his friends have thrown 15 million people off the health care they have,
10:25raised premiums for those on the Affordable Care Act,
10:29cut back on education, raised student loan payments, et cetera, et cetera.
10:35And what Abdul understands is we need to look at foreign policy in a very different way,
10:41that we need to end endless wars, that it is wrong and immoral for the United States
10:49to continue to spend billions and billions of dollars on military aid
10:54to the extremist Netanyahu government, which has committed genocide in Gaza.
10:59And Abdul understands that, as do the vast majority of the people in this country.
11:05When you've got people who are homeless, when you've got kids who are hungry.
11:09No, you don't spend billions of dollars propping up an extremist government
11:14that has done terrible things to the Palestinian people.
11:19So let me conclude by saying this, and maybe the most important point that I will make.
11:27The oligarchs have, and I deal with this every day, trust me on it, endless amounts of money.
11:34Progressives will never, ever be able to compete against them
11:37in terms of the amount of money they have in campaigns.
11:40They can write out checks, right and left.
11:43If you're worth a couple of hundred billion dollars,
11:45a check of $50 million doesn't mean anything.
11:48You can write it out tomorrow.
11:49So they got the money.
11:51What do we got?
11:52We have the people.
11:54And every poll that I have seen is that the American people, with some exceptions,
12:01but almost totally agree with the progressive agenda.
12:07They understand that health care is a human right.
12:09They want to see Medicare for all.
12:11They want billionaires to stop paying their fair share of taxes.
12:14They know that we cannot let a handful of big tech oligarchs push AI down our throats,
12:23no matter what impact it has on our economy, the massive loss of jobs, our privacy rights,
12:33what impact it has on the mental health of our children, on warfare,
12:39and, as I'm sure many of you have been following,
12:42a lot of people are worried about the existential threat that AI poses.
12:47If advanced AI becomes smarter than human beings,
12:53and human beings are no longer able to control that technology, what happens then?
12:59And there are some very smart guys who think the results could be disastrous.
13:06And Abdul also understands that another existential threat that we're dealing with is climate,
13:11and the fact that year after year we continue to have the warmest years on record.
13:18We're seeing heat waves and forest fires and drought, etc., all over the world.
13:23We've got to get a handle on that.
13:24So this campaign in Michigan, which the whole country is watching,
13:30and people all over the world are watching, is of enormous consequence.
13:36Now, we can never raise more money than them, but what can we do?
13:40Well, that's what tonight is all about.
13:43When Mamdani won in New York City, he was outspent by a lot.
13:47He put 100,000 people out onto the streets of New York knocking on doors.
13:53Because when you build a strong grassroots movement,
13:58when you have thousands and thousands of people talking to their neighbors,
14:03you know what?
14:04We don't lose those elections.
14:07They've got the money.
14:08We've got the people.
14:12But having people is not effective unless they are organized, unless they are out working.
14:18So we've got about a month and a half left in this election.
14:22We need all of you.
14:23People watching this around the country, if you can help Abdul financially,
14:27if you write a check, send them some money, great.
14:29We need that.
14:30For the people in Michigan, we need you guys to be out knocking on doors,
14:34passing out literature, talking to your friends.
14:37Young people, we've been doing better in this regard,
14:41but young people do not have the highest rate of voter turnout, all right?
14:46A lot of young people don't vote.
14:48If we can significantly increase voter turnout among young people,
14:52I am absolutely confident that Abdul is going to win this election.
14:55So to my friends in Michigan, the world is watching what happens there.
15:02A victory for Abdul El-Sayed would be a huge step forward for decency,
15:08for dignity, for justice, for I think what the American people want to see
15:13in terms of the future of this country.
15:14So my hope is that everybody watching will get involved in one way or another.
15:20And I think in a few minutes you'll learn exactly how you can play,
15:23how you can get involved and what kind of role you can play.
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