Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has recently called former U.S. President Barack Obama, reportedly having an “inspiring conversation” with him. This irritated some people online, as these Michigan voters did not like the association between the two political figures.
As reported by NBC, the call happened soon after El-Sayed secured the nomination for the Senate. According to El-Sayed, “It was a really warm and inspiring conversation.” He also claimed to be grateful for Obama’s advice and said he was looking forward to campaigning together with the former president if possible.
El-Sayed has a tough race ahead, facing the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers. According to a poll shared by The Hill and conducted by the Glengariff Group last month, Rogers would beat El-Sayed by a whopping 10 points in November.
Michigan Reacts to El-Sayed and Obama’s Call
Users who reacted to the news on X were not very kind to the association between Obama and El-Sayed. One of them asked sarcastically: “Why would Abdul El-Sayed want to campaign with the corporate war-hawk centrist neoliberal shill popular former president?”
Others criticized the strategy, considering Obama’s platform to be far removed from El-Sayed’s: “For someone supposedly so astute, he’s not really reading the state of voters he’s trying to attract; just the opposite.” Someone else added: “Obama is the master of lying about healthcare; costs went up, not down; people lost good coverage, and Obama, his donors, and Insurance companies got rich at the expense of common working people.”
Some Michigan voters who seemingly sympathize with El-Sayed also chimed in: “I hope the new/younger Dems see the old Dem grifters are also 90% of the problem. They were and are sellouts, controlled by their mega donors. They have sold out the voters for decades. Do not trust any Boomer Dems. Distrust 90% of Gen X Dems.”
There were even some seemingly right-wing voters who criticized Obama for allying with what they saw as an extremist from the left: “All the proof you need that Obama was never a centrist or moderate like he claimed. Just another socialist.”
Overall, users were somewhat skeptical of the association between the two politicians, fearing that it would not help El-Sayed win the election. As one user put it, “Obama is the political kiss of death. Just ask Kamala.”
