00:00I have a sense that you all are here today because of decisions of somebody who's not here right now.
00:06Am I right about that?
00:07But I'm just going to tell you, this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better
00:11from their government.
00:12I'm a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about.
00:20Okay?
00:22They get too much in gas.
00:23They get too much in groceries.
00:24Well, I just want to say how grateful I am to be standing here next to two folks who've made
00:29history and are actively building the future that I want to hand off to my kids and my grandkids.
00:34Senator Also Brooks, first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Maryland, third black woman to
00:41be elected to the United States Senate in its history.
00:43And then, of course, Congressman Clyburn, somebody who has been the conscious of the House, fighting for a more equal
00:51America for a very long time.
00:52And then I'm standing also with my brothers and sisters in the faith community, folks who understand what it's like
00:59to have to claw for resources into communities that have been left behind for a very long time.
01:04I just want to set the stage for what this race is actually about.
01:07I launched this campaign back in April of 2025 in the aftermath of the disastrous decision by the Trump administration
01:17to freeze federal fights.
01:20And I've been serving in these communities for more than a decade as Detroit's health director, as Wayne County's director
01:27of health, human and veteran services, working with alongside communities to take on problems like the fact that kids couldn't
01:34get glasses when they needed them.
01:35That our kids' schools were underfunded, that we had smokestacks that were pushing out putrid air into the lungs of
01:42our babies, that black moms and babies die too early, that we watch our communities drown in medical debt.
01:52Those are the issues that I've been working alongside folks in this community to solve for a very, very long
01:57time.
01:58And when they froze federal funds, to me, that was the moment where I realized that the fight for the
02:03public's health, the public's well-being needed to go to the United States Senate.
02:08It was the same day that our current U.S. Senator Gary Peterson announced that he was retiring.
02:11There's going to be an open U.S. Senate seat.
02:14Now, it was a crowded primary, right, and there were a lot of issues, but one of the most important
02:19issues was simply the fact that I think we should spend our tax dollars here, that I want our money
02:25spent here to build infrastructure here and build schools here and build opportunity here and build health care here and
02:29child care here, rather than sent abroad to do the worst things, the most heinous things to other people.
02:34And you see it right now in a form of a war we shouldn't be fighting, that we're all paying
02:37for in our tax dollars, that we're all paying for in the price of gas, we're paying for in the
02:41price of groceries.
02:42We have a system of government that too often is more interested in sending our money to fight wars abroad
02:47rather than to do good things here at home, to subsidize foreign militaries rather than to subsidize domestic schools.
02:54And therein lies a big foundational difference.
02:57And look, we won that primary despite a record amount of outside spending in that race against us.
03:05$70 million, got outspent 11 to 1.
03:09Never has there been more money spent against a single candidate running in any primary race in American history.
03:14But we were able to build a movement of, by, and for the people against the corporate money that had
03:19flooded in, against the special interest money.
03:21And we were able to win that race.
03:23Now, three months ago, right, we had all realized that as a party, the thing that we were standing up
03:28against was the thing that kicked off my campaign in the first place.
03:31A Trump administration that could care less about funding the things that matter here.
03:35The Trump administration that has taken us to this war in Iran he doesn't know how to get us out
03:38of, that's raising the price of gas and groceries.
03:41Trump administration that's making tariff war on Canada.
03:43The Trump administration that passed the big, ugly bill, the single biggest transfer of money from the poor in this
03:49country to the rich in this country in American history.
03:52We were all united in the responsibility, the goal to take that on.
03:56Here's the thing about it.
03:57My focus has never wavered.
03:59I have been clear about what our responsibilities are.
04:03So rather than focus on a distraction about who said what to whom, where they went, I've been consistent.
04:09I want to get money out of politics.
04:12I want to put money back in pockets.
04:14I want Medicare for all.
04:16I want to take on the heinous price of gas, the ridiculous price of groceries, the fact that people in
04:22the richest, most powerful country in the world cannot see a doctor.
04:24The notion that we should continue to breathe unclean air or unclean water.
04:28That has been the focus of this campaign since April of 2025 when we kicked it off.
04:33It's what we said in rooms across the state, 700 public events, 120 different cities now.
04:38It's what I've said in every interview with probably every single one of you, right?
04:42It's what I said on TV.
04:43It's what I said while I was trying to fall asleep at night.
04:46It is the goal of this campaign.
04:48And Michiganders understand that we don't want to keep paying too much for gas.
04:52We don't want to keep paying too much for groceries.
04:54We don't want to watch our tax dollars.
04:55It's spent somewhere else on a war we shouldn't be fighting.
04:58We want our tax dollars spent here on schools here.
05:00That's what Michiganders are focused on.
05:02So I have a sense that you all are here today because of the decisions of somebody who's not here
05:08right now.
05:08Am I right about that?
05:10But I'm just going to tell you, this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better
05:14from their government.
05:15I'm a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about.
05:24They pay too much in gas.
05:26They pay too much in groceries.
05:27They're worried about the quality of their kids' schools.
05:29They're worried about the quality of the air and the water that they drink.
05:32That's what we should be focused on.
05:34So I'm going to ask when we take questions that you keep your questions focused on the issues that Michiganders
05:38really care about.
05:39Now, it might not drive clicks for you.
05:41I get it.
05:42I understand your business, right?
05:44But they're the issues that Michiganders are paying attention to.
05:47And I'm not in the business of driving clicks for you.
05:49I'm in the business of trying to solve problems for the people in my state.
05:52So if you want to ask me questions about the issues that the people in my state are facing, I
05:55am happy to answer them.
05:56If you want to ask me questions about some intrigue and about two folks who aren't here right now, I'm
06:01going to be less interested in asking.
06:02I'm just putting it out there.
06:04All right.
06:04We have time for a couple quick questions.
06:05We'll go right here in the front.
06:07Or whatever you can hear.
06:09So I heard Don.
06:10Yes.
06:11Why is today so important?
06:12Today is the Sunday before Election Day.
06:15Historically, this is the day where we take souls to the polls.
06:17Today is the last day of early voting in Michigan.
06:21And I'm here with some of the most important faith leaders in our state to get souls out to the
06:26polls.
06:27So it's important to me because democracy is important to me.
06:30Because making sure every vote is heard is important to me.
06:33Because they've been attacking voting rights, and voting rights are important to me.
06:36Because I want folks to understand, right, that we are united in the goal of getting money out of politics,
06:41putting money in your pocket, passing Medicare for all.
06:43But the only way we do that is because people show up to be a part of their civic process.
06:47And that means showing up to vote today or on Tuesday.
06:49One more question.
06:51One more question.
06:55Dr. Al-Sayed, do you believe that Haley Stevens has betrayed the Republican Party?
06:59She didn't hear what I just said.
07:01Do you believe that Haley Stevens?
07:01Has she betrayed the Republican Party?
07:03Has she betrayed the Democratic Party?
07:04I don't know what that party is anymore.
07:06I don't know.
07:06No, has she betrayed the Democratic Party?
07:08At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens.
07:11See what I'm saying?
07:11Like, I think about the, like I said, the 9,999,998 people who are not those two.
07:18Because you know what?
07:20I'm just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.
07:25And so, look, if you're somebody who believes that we ought to have more rights, not less, then I would
07:31think you would support me in this race.
07:32If you're somebody who believes that we should stand up to hate, and you have watched this last campaign, I
07:38think we probably would not want to support Mike Rogers and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
07:42If you're somebody who believes that we need more health care, not less, then you probably don't want to vote
07:47for the guy who voted to raise prescription drug prices or keep them high 19 times and takes money from
07:52big pharma and big insurance.
07:53If you're somebody who believes that we need funding for infrastructure, you probably don't want to support the guy who
08:00is more interested in sending your money or passing tax cuts for billionaires than funding infrastructure.
08:04If you're somebody who believes in public education, you probably do not want to support the guy who architected the
08:09initial legislation in 1999 that ended up stripping local control from Detroit public schools and the local community.
08:16If you're somebody who believes that you should have a right to a union, you probably don't want to support
08:22the guy who busts unions.
08:23So I'm just saying that the principles that we believe in as Democrats are really quite clear. I stand for
08:29all of them.
08:29Why don't you think?
08:31Thank you, Bryce.
08:32We've got to talk to voters.
08:34Talk to voters.
08:35We've got to talk to voters.
08:36Thank you, Bryce.
08:37We're able to hold other support.
08:40You're going to have to pay for your question.
08:44How did you notify either one of you of her decision?
08:48Does this change the outcome of the race or no?
08:50None of this matters.
08:52This does matter.
08:54I just want to understand.
08:55So the question ultimately is this.
08:56Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys.
08:57You understand?
08:58None of this matters.
08:59You know what matters?
09:00There's a family.
09:01You can go like 15 minutes that way or 15 minutes that way or 15 minutes that way.
09:05And there are families who are preparing to send their kids to schools tomorrow that
09:09look like they did 50 years ago.
09:11They're worried about what they're going to feed their kids for lunch.
09:13They're worried that if one of their kids gets sick, they're not going to be able to
09:16pay the bills.
09:17Those are the things that matter.
09:18I would hope, I would hope, honestly, like you guys, we have a democracy, right?
09:22Democracy is founded on a couple of things.
09:24The ability to vote.
09:25Yes, and they're trying to take it away.
09:26The other one is freedom of assembly, and the third is freedom of the press.
09:32But y'all, please, I would hope that you all want to ask questions that are relevant to
09:36that family.
09:38They're the ones who matter.
09:39The rest of this, just a distraction.
09:41Thank you so much.
