El-Sayed Got a Thrill Up His Leg Talking to Obama, 'Pines For' That Kind of 'Class and Elegance'

DSA darling Abdul El-Sayed, fresh off his defeat of Haley Stevens in last Tuesday's Michigan Senate Democrat primary, is now making the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows as his star continues to rise within the Democrat Party.

His first stop Sunday was to NBC News' Meet the Press, where he told host Kristen Welker about a phone call he'd had earlier in the week with former President Barack Obama. El-Sayed described the confab "as a really warm and inspiring conversation."

When Welker asked for the "crux" of Obama's message to the newly-minted candidate, he laid it on thick, calling Obama an "elegant" politician who "served with class."

I've got to be honest with you. I never saw myself ever able to run for public office. I literally told former President Bill Clinton that at my college graduation, in which I was the senior speaker and he was the main speaker. And I then watched the next year Barack Hussein Obama run for and win the presidency. I watched him serve with a level of class, a level of elegance that we could only pine for now. So I really enjoyed the conversation. I was grateful for his advice. It was very warm and very inviting. And I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is going to play in holding Trump accountable, in winning back the Senate, and in building forward the future that we need.

As for whether the former president will be hitting the campaign trail on his behalf, El-Sayed said he "hoped so," and that "his presence here in Michigan would mean so much to the coalition that helped elect him."

WATCH: This morning on @MeetThePress, @AbdulElSayed says he spoke with Obama after primary win, hopes he’ll campaign for himhttps://t.co/KtU11DoZpj via @nbcnews
— Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) August 9, 2026

When he wasn't kissing up to Barack Hussein Obama, El-Sayed spoke of his desire to have Americans pay more in FICA taxes in order to get "free" healthcare.

I think all of us would be a lot more interested in that kind of a system if we knew that our health care would be free at the point of care and would be free without having to worry about losing it, in general. So there's an opportunity here, I think, to trade what we give to a big corporation, who gets to decide who we get to see and who we don't, for a little bit more paid into FICA. And I think that's a trade that's worth making.

And then there was the topic of Israel. Despite having previously called American Jews his "brothers and sisters," his warm feelings did not extend to the Jews in Israel.

But for right now, we are in a situation where we are continuously subsidizing the military of a state that has behaved in ways that can only be described as rogue. You think about the genocide in Gaza. You think about the continued attempt to annex Southern Lebanon. These are things that we cannot subsidize considering the fact that we have kids who need better schools and better roads and bridges and better health care here in America.

On a final note, asked Welker, what are his feelings on possibly becoming the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate? El-Sayed responded, "So it really is about proving out the America that America has always been, this place that embraces people beyond differences and in faith or ethnicity, to come together around the ideals that bind us here."

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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