El-Sayed: A lot of people who listen to Greene will 'vote for me'

Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed (D) said Tuesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if supporters of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) voted for him, alluding to a growing divide within the Democratic Party.

“When you ask me about why the establishment elite Democrats are so worried about me, it’s because there are a lot of people who listen to her who are going to vote for me in the general election,” El-Sayed told Politico’s “The Conversation,” referring to Greene.

“They are not afraid I’m going to lose. They’re afraid I’m going to win,” he added.

The progressive detailed several viewpoints he shares with the former lawmaker, who resigned from the House in January following a public feud with President Trump, from foreign influence in elections — including donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — to lowering the cost of healthcare.

“We get so polarized about D versus R, red versus blue, that we forget that when you talk about

the things that people actually care about, you can win elections. You can do that in uncommon ways.” El-Sayed told Dasha Burns. “But too often, the Democratic Party is more interested in continuing to take money from its corporate and special interest donors than it is in speaking conventional truth.”

“It should be an obvious thing that everybody agrees with that we should keep our money here. It should be an obvious thing that everybody agrees with that people shouldn’t go into medical debt in the richest, most powerful country in the world,” the candidate continued. “The fact that MTG agrees with those points should not be all that uncommon ‘cause they’re just like obvious things to say.”

The Michigan primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D) is set for Aug. 4. El-Sayed, who received endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), will face Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the Democratic contest.

Stevens is backed by Peters, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

Progressives and democratic socialists have seen their star rise in recent months following a slew of primary wins.

Stevens, a moderate, is leading El-Sayed by 7 points, according to a recent poll from Detroit News/WDIV-TV. She also reportedly accepted close to $30 million from AIPAC, according to The Associated Press. The Michigan Democrat justified the contribution by telling the AP that “anyone who supported me is supporting me because of my dedication to the people of Michigan, and the things that I have done for Michiganders.”

El-Sayed campaigned with Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders over the weekend, raising questions about his ties to the democratic socialist movement. Asked about his political stance on Tuesday, the candidate brushed off the comparison.

“I don’t have to be a socialist to think that big corporations shouldn’t be able to nickel and dime us at every turn,” he told Burns. “I don’t have to be a socialist to believe that everybody in the richest, most powerful country in the world can have guaranteed health insurance.”

“So, I just think … it’s funny, right, because we fall into these patterns where we say well, like, you know, all of these people have to agree on all the things and so we’re going to find a label and we’re going to stick them with a label,” he continued later, reiterating his push for healthcare reform and regulation of corporations against monopolies.

He added, “That doesn’t make me a socialist. That just makes me somebody who wants government to work for people.”

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