Senator-elect El-Sayed calls Trump an 'unserious fool' and defends combative style
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic senator-elect from Michigan, has called President Donald Trump an unserious fool while defending his combative political style. In an appearance on the Pod Save America podcast, he said Democrats must abandon outdated decorum and face the reality of where politics now stands.
Host Jon Favreau reminded him that he had long ago predicted he would win the race by seven points, which at the time seemed cocky and ill-considered. In the end, he won by exactly seven points, yet people still call him cocky.
El-Sayed replied that Democrats have a responsibility to engage with Trump as the unserious fool he believes him to be.
In his view, Trump has changed the style of acceptable political communication. He accused Democrats of hesitating to abandon a kind of decorum in order to fight fire with fire.
He said Democrats should walk out of an episode of The West Wing, the television drama known for its idealistic portrayal of politics, and step into the reality of where politics is now.
To explain his point, he used the example of a bully. If you do not stand up to a bully in a room, he said, the bully does not simply go away; the bully just gets stronger.
El-Sayed repeatedly attacked Trump during his campaign. In his victory speech, he also mocked Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Republican rival Mike Rogers, signalling a combative tone for his time in the Senate.
His stance is not new. Even before his Senate bid, he spoke in the same vein. In a 2020 interview, he accused President Trump of inciting terrorism.
At the time, he cited a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. In his words, these are terrorists and they have to be called that, because that is what the face of terrorism looks like right now.
El-Sayed also asked why people were being radicalised, suggesting there must be some radical, extremist cleric tweeting about liberating Michigan. Although President Trump did not call for any violence against Whitmer, El-Sayed said he believed the president was at least partially responsible, pointing to a tweet Trump had made.
El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race. Questions are now being raised about whether his combative approach will yield results in Congress.
