Abdul El-Sayed DEFENDS His Obama Alliance Despite Past Criticism | His Response Shocks Reporters - video Dailymotion

Oneindia

Abdul El-Sayed delivers a heartfelt and powerful response after being questioned about campaigning alongside former U.S. President Barack Obama despite previously criticizing him. Instead of avoiding the controversy, El-Sayed turns the question around with a simple but emotional reference to family, offering a thoughtful reflection on gratitude, political disagreements, and the lasting impact of Obama’s presidency. His response highlights why it is possible to respect a leader’s legacy while still challenging their decisions. The exchange has sparked attention for its message of grace, honesty, and political maturity, raising a broader question about how leaders can acknowledge the past while working toward a different future.    #AbdulElSayed #BarackObama #Obama #USPolitics #AbdulElSayedObama #PoliticalDebate #PoliticalLeadership #ObamaLegacy #AmericanPolitics #PoliticalNews #HeartfeltResponse #PoliticalGrace #DemocraticParty #BreakingNews #PoliticalCommentary #Leadership #ObamaPresidency #USPoliticalNews #PoliticsToday #HookGlobal  Also Read  Obama Joins AI Slowdown Debate: ‘Choices We Make Right Now’ Will Shape Future :: https://www.oneindia.com/artificial-intelligence/obama-joins-ai-slowdown-debate-choices-we-make-right-now-will-shape-future-8205447.html?ref=DMDesc  Trump Addresses Nation Amid Iran War, Targets Obama Nuclear Deal, Justifies ‘Operation Epic Fury' , Watch :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/trump-addresses-nation-amid-iran-war-targets-obama-nuclear-deal-justifies-operation-epic-fury-8045265.html?ref=DMDesc  Donald Trump Deletes Racist Video Of Barack And Michelle Obama After Outrage - What Did It Show? :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/donald-trump-deletes-racist-video-of-barack-and-michelle-obama-after-outrage-what-did-it-show-7990805.html?ref=DMDesc    ~PR.460~HT.408~ED.194~VG.HM~

Transcript

00:00Do you previously criticized President Obama? Why are you campaigning with him?

00:03I'll take this question.

00:08Do you love your dad? Yeah? Do you agree with everything your dad has ever done?

00:13Do you? Yeah. So, it's a normal thing to love somebody, to really appreciate all that they've

00:20done, and to say, hey, here's some things I would have done differently. But they still

00:25did some important things to create opportunity for you. There is no world in which I get to

00:29run for office without somebody like President Obama. I remember watching his DNC speech in

00:332004 and thinking, I never saw politics look like that before. It was the first time I ever

00:38saw myself as a politician. His dad immigrated from Africa. My dad immigrated from a different

00:42part of Africa. He had mixed parents. I was raised by my dad and my stepmom, Jackie. He,

00:47you know, got a funny name? I got a funny name. Although Remington, I'd trade you if you want.

00:53He's tall and skinny, and that's where it ends. I'm 5'8". But all of that is to say that

00:58I deeply

00:58appreciate what he made possible for somebody like me. And at the same time, I had criticisms.

01:04There were things that I looked at and I said, ah, I wish we could do that differently. And you

01:07know

01:07what I'm trying to do now? I'm trying to pick up the baton and run, right? And that's not because

01:12of any animosity for him. It's actually out of a deep love for him, just like I have a deep

01:16love

01:16for my dad and all that he's done to make my life possible, even if I don't agree with everything

01:20he

01:20ever did. I have that kind of relationship with somebody like President Obama. He was foundational to my

01:25ability to run for office. I'm so grateful that he's coming to Michigan to campaign for me. It

01:29means so much. And I hope that I can pick up where he left off. You think about something like

01:33health care. He called the ACA a starter home. I think we've outgrown the starter home. I think

01:39he would agree. What do we do from here?

01:42I didn't want to ask another dumb one.

01:44Well, Donald Trump is the president of the United States, which means he has significant

01:48power, including holding the nuclear football. And when he makes war, which he has the power

01:54to do, it's a very different thing than a streamer in California. I'm not sure if that's

01:58clear to you, but like when it's the president of the United States who is literally the most

02:03powerful person in the whole world to equate the most powerful person in the world with a

02:08streamer in California seems to me to be just a little, I'm not going to use the word,

02:13but silly. It's fine.

02:17By the way, Root, I just, can we just, Root, Rick did a great job today. You did a great

02:23job. I want to tell you that it was unfair that they skipped that last debate. And, you

02:30know, I just hope you feel vindicated.

02:33Well, thank you for those words. Thank you for being here today. Thanks for taking our

02:37question. A little bit about yesterday. There was some deep disappointment as a lot of Jewish

02:42voters were watching carefully to see what you would say on October 7th. And they were

02:48disappointed in you not saying anything. And then today you were asked about it. We

02:52couldn't get down to an answer in the chaos of the debate. What would you like to say to

02:56the Jewish voters about October 7th specifically?

02:58Let me make a clear point here. I learned that when people are grieving, don't step on their

03:04grief. And I know that how much things were being watched, that this was going to be, whatever

03:10I said, it was going to feel like politicizing that moment. So I decided not to say anything.

03:15I think, as I've said every year since October 7th, that the murder of innocent people is wrong,

03:23that what happened is wrong. And that, of course, we grieve victims, innocent victims. But you

03:29looked at the statement that Mike Rogers made. I mean, this was making political theater out

03:33of pain in another country. And so I didn't want to do that.

03:40Ben, whoa, your hair is like, wait, wait, can I just see the back? We got the full man bun?

03:44I got the man bun.

03:45That's what I'm just saying. I've been at this campaign for 18 months. I saw it when

03:48it was initially hair that looked like mine. Now he's got the full man bun. I think it looks

03:51good, man. You pull it off.

03:52It's my playoff hair.

03:53It's a good look. Playoff hair? Oh, you got it. Wait, is the playoff beard?

03:56I got it. I had shape.

03:58Okay. I kind of, would you keep it growing for the next 23?

04:02Yeah, sure.

04:02I mean, playoff beard is a thing, man. We're in hockey town, you know.

04:05It's a beard, yeah.

04:06Hey, all right, go ahead.

04:07This is a real punch-up of a debate. Do you think that this was instructive to voters

04:11having you two go at it like this? I know that this is a long time coming, but do you

04:15think

04:15that you guys really, truly chewed up the policy issues that voters need to see from you guys

04:20to do this?

04:21No, Ben, I would have loved to. I really, I really wish we could actually have a policy debate.

04:25The reality of it is that you saw that debate. He wanted to make about anything except for

04:30public policy. Let me be absolutely clear. I think that the war that we're fighting in

04:36Iran is an abomination. It has failed the American public, literally fought a war to raise our

04:42gas prices and our grocery prices, to waste our taxes, and most importantly, to take the

04:48lives of servicemen and women. Let me be clear. The tariff policy is insane. It makes no sense.

04:55It is incoherent on its own terms, and we're paying $5,600 a year. Let me be clear about

05:01this, too. We need and deserve guaranteed healthcare rather than corporate politicians who are bought

05:06off by big pharma and big insurance who want to charge you $50 to see a doctor. I want to

05:11guarantee you healthcare from cradle to grave without having to worry about a premium copay

05:15and deductible.

05:16Some of the other issues that came up, let's talk a little bit about, we didn't even talk

05:20about AI in data centers, but I think it was, where is it, Craig? You're the one who actually

05:25got Mike to talk about data centers the first time. Am I wrong? He had never said anything.

05:29You asked him a question at a far smaller press conference, and he from the hip was like,

05:35oh, I think we need a moratorium. At the state level, except for he's running for federal

05:38office, which by definition means he doesn't actually want to do anything about this because

05:43he's not running for state office and clearly has no ability to make state policy in the

05:47job that he's aspiring to. So I've been serious about the federal policy I'd like to see, which

05:52is a terms of engagement, which means guaranteed union labor, no increases in our utility rates,

06:00that the utility companies are going to invest revenue in improving our reliability, that they're

06:07not going to touch our water, and that you're going to have clearly negotiated community benefits

06:11agreements. I've called that, you guys have covered me for a long time now. I said that back in what?

06:16January? I've been saying the same thing ever since. We actually have a coherent plan on AI.

06:20I like policy. I literally write books about policy. My opponent doesn't really want to talk

06:25about policy instead. How many times was he talking about all kinds of things that have nothing to do

06:29with your gas prices, your grocery prices, the ability to see a doctor, didn't want to have a

06:33conversation about what a coherent tariff structure looks like? So yeah, I think the average viewer

06:39didn't get a great viewpoint because my opponent doesn't want to talk about public policy. I do.

06:45I take the job seriously. And look, you know, he spent 14 years in Congress and then used it as

06:50a paycheck on the way out. By the way, I'm just saying he has a better name than almost anybody.

07:01Remington, can I trade you names? Can you imagine my name was Remington El-Sayed? I don't want this

07:06election already. Go ahead. I'll talk to my parents about it. So, you know, there was a lot of discussion

07:12about where money coming to your campaign now is coming from. There was mentions of the Muslim

07:19brothers, people who support Hamas, al-Qaeda. What do you make of that? And are you getting money

07:25from these people? Did you see the tweet from the president today? And why do you think they keep

07:32saying this? There are some small people in this country with small ideas who think the country is

07:40small like them. And they think they can point to my name and say a bunch of scary words and

07:45that

07:45people are going to forget that they pay way too much for gas and groceries, that they can't see a

07:50doctor who, by the way, might actually have my name. That's the reality in this country. Mike wouldn't know

07:56it. Donald Trump certainly wouldn't know it. You think Mike has ever actually had to pump his own gas?

08:02I mean, the dude is worth, what, $14 million? I don't know what you do when you're worth $14

08:07million, but I doubt he's worried about how much groceries cost. That's, Michiganders are worried

08:12about that. So yeah, he wants to point to my name, just like the president wants to use my middle

08:18name,

08:19right? Why? Because they want to distract us from the real issues at play. So yes, hundreds of thousands

08:27of individuals have given to my campaign. Unlike Mike Rogers, I don't ask big corporations

08:32to pay for my campaigns. I have never solicited a corporate PAC check. I didn't take $64,000

08:37from DTE. I didn't take a million dollars from Big Pharma. I didn't take a million dollars

08:41from insurance companies. Mike did that. And so he would rather say scary sounding words in

08:48association with my name to distract us from the way our politics is transacted. Corporations buy off

08:55politicians like him so that they turn around and do their bidding. And then we all pay the price.

09:00The war in Iran, we're paying the price. The tariff war, we're paying the price. His votes to keep

09:05prescription drug prices, we're definitely paying the price. And we all pay the price because of

09:09their small politics. So look, you know, at the end of the day, he can keep pointing to my name,

09:13he can keep pointing to my faith, he can keep saying scary sounding words about me or whoever

09:18he wants to say did whatever. And at the end of the day, it's not actually the reason why you

09:23can't

09:23afford the basic means of a dignified life. That's all they've got. And the president,

09:27like he always does, said the quiet part out loud today. So, you know, if that's the kind of

09:31politics we want, then, but I believe in a big America. I actually campaign. I've been to 600

09:39public events, 110 different cities. Michiganders are good people. They're earnest people. They're

09:46gritty people. They just don't want to be exploited, big hearted, open-minded. Most people

09:51aren't asking how I pray. They're asking what I pray for. I pray for the same things that they do.

09:55I want a good life for my kids. I want a world where we can afford basic means of our

10:00dignity.

10:01I want health care for everybody. So, you know, he's got no answers for that. And this is the last

10:06play of small-minded people with small ideas who've got nothing to say about the actual problems we

10:10face. He can keep talking about that. And I'm going to keep talking about gas, groceries, and health care.

10:19It's interesting that you just brought up that Congressman Rogers is weak on policy because he

10:24just did the same thing for you. He called you a policy lightweight. On the issue of health care

10:29in particular, he was making the case that a Medicare for All plan would strip people of their

10:34existing plans and drive debt up. I wanted to give you a chance to respond to that. What did his

10:38health

10:38care book say? Did you read it? I don't have it in front of me. He didn't write a health

10:44care book.

10:45He couldn't write a health care book. Lightweight. I actually write my ideas out. So here's what

10:52Medicare for All would do. It would guarantee all of us health care from the moment we are born to

10:58the moment we pass, God willing, at 120 years of life after a long, healthy life in our sleep.

11:03You wouldn't lose your health care if you turn 26 or get a job or lose a job

11:07or turn 65 or get married or get divorced. Always you can lose your health care.

11:11We would not have $225 billion of medical debt and there wouldn't be medical bankruptcies.

11:18And because you would have a single payer who guaranteed all of us care, it could negotiate down

11:23prices for all of us. What people like Mike Rogers don't want to admit to you is that you get

11:29taxed by

11:29your health care company with every paycheck. That money goes right off the top in a premium.

11:35Health care, health insurance eats first. The attorney general just today suing Blue Cross Blue Shield,

11:3970% of our entire insurance market because they're a monopoly and they raised our premiums 15%. You know

11:45who he took money from? Blue Cross Blue Shield. He will hide behind the fact that he was a mediocre

11:54legislator to say that he's some kind of heavyweight. But at the end of the day, all he did was

11:58take the

11:59paper that a big corporation pushed him and try to pass it into law so that on the back end,

12:04he could

12:04go and make $14 million advising the very certain corporations that paid him off. Not a serious person.

12:11And if he was such a heavyweight, he would have talked about policy, but he didn't. You know what he

12:15talked about? Me. Talking about my mom. I mean, I don't know what says I have nothing to say here,

12:21except for pointing at somebody and be like, but your mom. Not a serious person. Not a serious person.

12:30What did you all say to each other during the commercial break? And what did you say to each

12:35other at the end of the debate? I mean, Rick made a comment that there was some exchange. We were

12:38talking about his $2.7 million home in Florida. I had asked why he took it off the market. Well,

12:43he said he wanted to rent it out. So he wants to be a landlord, I guess.

12:49And I just said that I'm expecting that he's going to move back there when he's done with

12:53this campaign in Michigan, because of course, that's where he wants to live. You don't put a

12:56house on the market and pull it back off the market unless you intend to permanently own it

13:00because you plan to live there. So I was just inviting him to tell me what his real plans were

13:07with the home. And then he invited me to stay at his in-law unit. I was like, that'd be

13:10weird. So you

13:11want me to stay in your in-law unit? You're going to be living in a house. We just ran

13:13for office,

13:13and I just forced you to move back. That's going to be weird, man. I'm not going to do that.

13:17I might go to Cape Coral. It seems like a nice place to vacation, but I'm from Michigan,

13:21and I live in Michigan. So, you know, good luck, Airbnb-ing your home, or moving back there,

13:27which is, I think, what the plan is going to be.

13:31Why didn't you dispute the claims that Rogers made tying you to the Muslim Brotherhood,

13:35to Al-Qaeda, to Hamas? I don't dignify those kinds of claims because at the end of the day,

13:41again, this is about trying to point to somebody whose name is different to make all kinds of

13:48hearsay accusations that are just not worth the dignity of a response. I'm just not going to

13:53dignify it. Sir, you've been very clear that you do not support- I think he said Russ. I don't

14:03think your name's Russ. Earlier today, the Pentagon said it was going to live stream the execution

14:11of the Fort Hood shooter. Should that happen? What is your reaction to that?

14:19I mean, look, he should be held accountable for what he did. Absolutely. I wonder what the goal is

14:26to live stream that. You know, do we want our kids seeing that? I think it's a kind of machismo

14:34that

14:34we've seen out of this administration. So the question of whether or not he should be held

14:38accountable for what he did, absolutely. But the idea that you want to live stream somebody's death

14:43says a lot about who you are. And, you know, ostensibly, I'd love to hear what Mike Rogers

14:47thinks about that. I'd love to hear what Mike Rogers thinks about Pete Hegseth, generally, and

14:51about his failure to prosecute this war at all. And, you know, I don't know what what Hegseth does,

14:58except for like, fail to work out with other, you know, members of the armed forces. Like, I don't

15:05know what his actual job is, because he doesn't do it very well. And we're at war right now. And

15:10you

15:11would think that he'd be more concerned about the fact that we are actively losing this war,

15:16than he would be concerned about the live streaming of somebody's death.

15:21All right, we have one more. We'll go in the front. Millions of Americans are an hour or longer

15:27drive away from hospitals and specialized care. So even with health care for all, how do you plan to

15:32break down that literal physical barrier that's preventing people from getting the care they need

15:36in emergencies? So let's talk about why that happens. You know, right now, too often,

15:41because of the cuts to Medicaid, that people like Mike Rogers have rubber stamped that Donald Trump

15:46and that one big ugly bill have pushed forward, you have fewer people who can actually reimburse a

15:52local hospital for their care. So not only is it that people have to drive extra long to get care,

15:57it's that those hospitals don't get paid back the way they should. The fact that Medicaid

16:02reimbursements are so low in the first place is a big problem. It's a big problem in urban community,

16:06but it's a particularly big problem in rural communities. And what's happened then is that

16:12a lot of these hospitals cannot sustain on low Medicaid reimbursements, which is about to get

16:16worse. And then because we have big corporate consolidation in our health care system, hospitals

16:21will buy up these local hospitals and then they'll sell them for real estate. That's what's actually

16:25shutting down rural health care. You know, Mike talked about the $50 billion. That's a drop in the

16:32bucket. Let's talk about what Medicare for all would do. Imagine every single resident, every

16:37single one had full reimbursement through Medicare. Imagine what that would mean for the reimbursement

16:42that rural hospitals could get, they could stay profitable, they could stay open. I mean, that's

16:48exactly what we could do. Beyond that, I actually believe that we could vastly invest in the federally

16:52qualified health center infrastructure to actually enable local municipalities to open primary,

16:57secondary, tertiary care even, and to start to address this issue. That's real policy solutions.

17:03Mike, he backstops the one big ugly bill. It's about to cut ACA and cut Medicaid for a lot of

17:11the same

17:12rural folk who already are driving an hour, two hours to see a doctor that is going to destroy rural

17:18health care. And he's backstopping it. Why? So that millionaires and billionaires like him and his boss,

17:25Donald Trump can get tax breaks. That's what we're talking about here. Not serious, just truly not

17:31serious. Thank you.

17:37I'll take this question.

17:42Do you love your dad? Yeah. Do you agree with everything your dad has ever done?

17:48Do you? Yeah. So it's a normal thing to love somebody, to really appreciate all that they've

17:54done and to say, hey, here's some things I would have done differently. But they still did some

18:00important things to create opportunity for you. There is no world in which I get to run for office

18:04without somebody like President Obama. I remember watching his DNC speech in 2004 and thinking,

18:09I never saw politics look like that before. It's the first time I ever saw myself as a politician.

18:14His dad immigrated from Africa. My dad immigrated from a different part of Africa. He had mixed parents.

18:18I was raised by my dad and my stepmom, Jackie. He, you know, got a funny name. I got a

18:24funny name.

18:25Although Remington, I'll trade you if you want. He's tall and skinny and that's where it ends. I'm

18:305'8". But all of that is to say that I deeply appreciate what he made possible for somebody like

18:35me. And at the same time, I had criticisms. There were things that I looked at and I said, ah,

18:40I wish we

18:41could do that differently. And you know what I'm trying to do now? I'm trying to pick up the baton

18:44and run,

18:45right? And that's not because of any animosity for him. It's actually out of a deep love for him,

18:50just like I have a deep love for my dad and all that he's done to make my life possible,

18:54even if I don't agree with everything he ever did. I have that kind of relationship with somebody

18:58like President Obama. He was foundational to my ability to run for office. I'm so grateful

19:01that he's coming to Michigan to campaign for me. It means so much. And I hope that I can pick

19:06up

19:06where he left off. You think about something like health care. He called the ACA a starter home.

19:10I think we've outgrown the starter home. I think he would agree. What do we do from here?

19:19Subscribe to One India and never miss an update. Download the One India app now.

Abdul El-Sayed DEFENDS His Obama Alliance Despite Past Criticism | His Response Shocks Reporters

Category

Transcript

Recommended