Abdul El-Sayed talks to Kaitlan Collins after his Michigan primary win

The results of last night's Senate primary race have the president of the United States tonight lashing out.

— And the polls were wrong again last night, when they thought it would be a landslide victory for a hater of Jews and a hater of Israel.This guy hates Jews.Somebody said, oh, that's a little strong.No, he hates Jews and he hates Israel.Abdul El -Sayed.Can you believe this?

This could only happen to me.Abdul El -Sayed, lovely gentleman.He's a man of hate.And now he's going around saying, No, I love everybody.I love he doesn't love everybody.Put him in office.

You're gonna find out what he loves.He doesn't love Israel.He doesn't love Jewish people.He hates him.He hates him with a passion that burns in his heart.And there's not a frickin thing he can do about it.

There's not a thing he can do about it because he hates him.But everyone, every time this has happened and you do that, you go through squalor and add the word again.Filth, crime, death, destruction.embarrassment.You lose your home, you lose your apartment, and that's where the communists will take us 100%.When I watch Abdul, he's full of shit.

What is your response to the president?

I'm glad he thinks I'm a lovely gentleman.A lot of people think so.Look, you know, this is the response that they have.You notice what he talked about.First, look at the background.It says no tax on tips.

The man can't stay on focus.That's like the one thing that he did to offer any economic relief.But instead of that, he's more focused on me.And what I'm going to do while we're living through an affordability crisis that is generational, people are paying nearly $5 in gas because of war he started and half the time if he's not talking about me, he's talking about the drapes in his ballroom.So at the end of the day,you know, I invite the president to focus what I'm saying.

I want to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket and pass Medicare for all.I think a lot of Michiganders want that right now.And I think Mike Rogers, for his own part, is running away from Donald Trump himself.When you're asked Mike Rogers about his position on the war or his position on Trump's tariffs, he is mum.So, look, I'm looking forward to tying Mike Rogers to Donald Trump all day, every day, but I do agree with the part where he says I'm a lovely gentleman.

I'm not sure he meant that, but we'll leave it at that.You mentioned what your campaign message was over the last several months.You defeated Haley Stevens for the nomination by what right now I think is one percentage point.What does a margin that close tell you about what the next 90 days need to look like for your campaign?

Look, we as a party have to come together.You know, we had a hard -fought battle.There were some disagreements between folks who might have voted for me or folks who might have voted with the Congresswoman.But I also know that the things that unite us are so much bigger than whatever it is that divides us.We have an opportunity right now to come together to embrace the idea that we can have an America that is affordable because Michiganders right now are suffering.We can actually address the housing crisis.

We can address the fact that too many people worry about the fact that they might get sick and don't have the health care that they need and deserve.Mike Rogers is exactly the opposite of that.Mike Rogers spent his 14 years in Congress taking check after check after check, totaling more than a million dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, for which For his vote, he voted 19 times to raise prescription drug prices, helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic, 600 ,000 people dead.So I wanna give you healthcare, he wants to take it away.I provided Narcan and 100 vending machines for free, he helped to kick off a crisis for which that Narcan had to be the answer.The difference couldn't be more certain, and we have an opportunity to come together to defeat him, defeat Trumpism, hold him accountable, and start actually addressing

the challenges that people in Michigan are facing.

You know, it was a really tough primary, obviously.I mean, at one point you described Haley Stevens as a suit with a large APAC bank account, said hopefully they could find some ways to teach her how to string together two coherent sentences.That was your quote.She is now supporting you, now that you have won the nomination.Are you going to invite her to campaign with you out on the trail?

Look, we need everybody together to beat Mike Rogers.I'm grateful.We had a great conversation this morning.We talked about a hard -fought primary.You know, I've known the congresswoman since 2018, since we ran together.And again, whatever our disagreements, we know that the disagreements we have with Mike Rogers and Donald Trump are so much bigger.

And in the heat of a primary, you're going to say some things you later on would rather have not said.And I think we have an opportunity right now to focus on what needs to be said, which is that Mike Rogers is an existential threat to the affordability of Michiganders, which is already pretty low, that taking on Donald Trump and holding him accountable for his abuses of power is a critical goal, and that addressing the fact that people deserve health care and housing and good schools is a key goal that we all share.So we're coming together as we need to do to defeat Mike Rogers and defeat Trumpism.

Well, so given how many votes she got, will she be on the campaign trail with you?

Look, I should hope so.That's a choice that she gets to make.But all of us coming together around the slate that we've built.And look, we've got some great candidates on that slate.You think about the lieutenant governor, Garland Gilchrist, Ellie Savitt, with whom I've worked during my time at the city of Detroit.Obviously, Jocelyn Benson, who won her campaign handily our Secretary of State and soon -to -be governor.

There's a lot on this ticket that Michiganders can have a lot of hope in and so I'm looking forward to campaigning together to win the future where we take on Trumpism and Mike Rogers.And I'm hoping that Congresswoman Stevens and Senator McMurrow who was with me earlier today will be out there on the trail talking about what we need to do to build a future where we get money out of politics.put money in pockets, and pass Medicare for all.

Well, and this seat is so critical for your party to win control of the Senate in Washington.We've heard some Democrats who are worried that you cannot defeat Mike Rogers come November.How do you plan to address those concerns from people in your own party?

We don't need worry.We need work.We took on $70 million of outside spending and $11 to $1 billion.funding gap, spending gap on the airwaves, and we took it on because we did the work.12 ,000 people knocking nearly 10 ,000 doors a day.We started this campaign 15 months ago, having conversations in rooms of five or 50 people at a time.

And so, that's how we're going to beat Mike Rogers, the old -fashioned way, brick by brick.So, if you're worried right now, get to work.That's the work that we need to do.And I can tell you, on our campaign, we're going to be out there knocking doors, having those conversations that are what our democracy is about.But worrying, and Democrats worrying, is not going to solve the problem.You heard Donald Trump at the top of this show.

This is a guy who can't even focus on our affordability.He's more interested in saying my name in an interesting way or calling me a lovely gentleman.uh... then he is interested in actually solving our problems we have to stand up to that which means let's go get to work let's go talk to our fellow michiganders about who we are and who we want to be and what it takes to take on the most corrupt president in american history and his lackey who licks every boot he possibly can of that man uh... mike rogers well i mean in addition to work a lot of money is probably going to be spent here and you were really critical of outside spending in the primary especially from APAC You have pledged not to take a dime of corporate money in your race.

Is that still your position tonight?

It is still my position.It is, has been, and always will be.

But will you need help from National Democrats?I mean, will you welcome outside spending as if there's going to be a ton of money being spent on Mike Rogers?Do you also want a ton of money being spent from National Democrats on your race?

Look.different things.If you're a corporation trying to corrupt a politician just like Mike Rogers has been corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry.Yeah I think nurses coming in and saying hey we're going to bring some funds to help a candidate who wants to stand up to that industry.That makes sense.But I think we'd all rather live in a world where outside spending was not a thing.

And look the minute I hit the U .S.Senate I I am working toward that world.I want to end Citizens United.I want to ban Super PACs and 501c4s and all of this dark money infrastructure that has allowed corporations and special interests to corrupt our politics.

Do you know how much you've raised since last night in the last 24 hours or so?

Honestly, I haven't checked.It has been a whirlwind, but I know it's been a lot.People are really excited about the opportunity we have in this race.They see the clear contrast between a corrupt politician like Mike Rogers, who offers nothing new.I mean, this guy hasn't had an original idea since 1994.And a candidate who is new on the scene, wants to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all.

That contrast couldn't be more exciting.And it's partly why we saw 500 ,000 more Democrats vote in our primary than did Republicans.And look, if we can muster that kind of turnout in this next election, we are going to swamp.Mike Rogers will go back to a swamp in Florida, and we'll be headed to the U .

S.Senate.You said before, Chuck Schumer doesn't want to see me on the inside of the U .S.Senate.How did your call with Chuck Schumer go today?

Well, you know, at this point, I'm the only Democrat here.to come to the inside of the U .S.S.Senate.And I think we had a good, meaningful, heart -to -heart conversation about what it takes to win in a state like Michigan and what needs to be done to defeat Mike Rogers.So I'm looking forward to partnering alongside him to win the Senate majority, to win back, to keep the state of Michigan and to win back the gavel for Democrats so that we can start holding Donald Trump accountable.

I can't wait.to sit across RFK Jr. and actually grill him.Dude uses big words he does not understand.And I happen to go to medical school, so I kind of understand them.It is going to be a good time holding him accountable for all of the grift that he has pushed on the American public.

So if you win, that's the Trump official you most want to see testifying before you in the Senate?

I think it's the Trump official that most people would probably like to see me stand up against.Because, look, I'm a guy with a doctorate in medicine and in public health.He's a guy who takes his kids swimming in Schitt's Creek.

Speaking of senators that you might be serving alongside and questioning Trump officials, I want you to listen to what, I'm not sure if you've seen this, what Democratic Senator John Fetterman said about you today.

Are you willing to unify with Abdul El -Sayed, for example, who's now the Democratic nominee, the Democratic candidate?

Oh, yeah, the tough guy.He called me ugly and then I should be on a pike.And I'm like, Chief, I own mirrors.Well, I can't come together with someone if you are willing to embrace people that loves Hamas or that thinks America deserved 9 -11.I think that's reasonable.

What's your response to Senator Federman?

In Trump's words, what a lovely gentleman.

The left -wing streamer Hassan Piker, who was campaigning with you, who was out there in Michigan on Monday night, I believe last night as well.Do you have any plans to do that?

Look, I'll tell you this.I'm less focused on folks who are campaigning with me, more focused on the folks I'm campaigning to.And I think it's important to stay in touch with the folks who you want to elect you.I think that's clearly what's gone wrong with Senator Fetterman.It's clear he probably doesn't spend much time in Pennsylvania because he was campaigning with Bernie Sanders and now wants to renounce Bernie Sanders.I don't know if he still thinks he's a Democrat or not.

But look, I'm hoping to get to the U .S.Senate and maybe we can hash that conversation out in person.But for right now, I'm focused on winning my state so that we can win a Democratic majority in the fall.

Can you clarify for us what your position is on funding for Israel if you do become a U .S.senator?Are you opposed to all funding for Israel, period, military funding?

I'm opposed to unconditional military aid for any country.That is Israel, yes, but that's also Egypt, where my family immigrated from.That's Pakistan, that's Saudi Arabia, that's the UAE.And that's not because of a focus on what's happening anywhere, except for a focus on what's happening here.We've got communities in my state where the median income is $14 ,000, and I believe they have a right to their tax dollars.I also believe in international law and upholding international law, and there are Leahy laws against dealing arms to countries who are engaged in human rights abuses.

And I don't want to fund a foreign military that does genocide, apartheid or has taken us to a war we don't need to fight.I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity and self -determination for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians alike.I believe our responsibility, though, more than anything else, is to use our tax money here in Michigan to provide health care in Michigan and schools in Michigan and roads in Michigan, rather than to send it to a foreign government that might use it in the form of bombs and tanks to destroy infrastructure and schools and hospitals there.

Some people might hear that and say, well,does he support funding defensive systems like the Iron Dome in Israel?Do you?

I don't believe that there's really a difference between offensive or defensive weapons.And I also don't believe it's my responsibility to buy defensive weapons for a foreign government when our kids are defenseless against schools that have been underfunded for a very, very long time.My responsibility as the next senator from Michigan is children in Michigan, rather than thinking about what's in the interest of a foreign government.

OK, so that's a yes that you are against funding to things like the Iron Dome.

I am against it in large part because I just don't understand why anybody thinks it's the right thing to do to send our tax dollars abroad to fund foreign militaries when our own kids barely get to go to schools that are functional.

You know, one thing during the campaign that we saw people in your state talk about, the Attorney General Dana Nessel, she's Jewish.She said she's not going to go to the Democratic Party's nominating convention that's happening this month in your state.She says she doesn't feel safe there.You earlier today in your acceptance speech, when you got the nomination, said that you want to work to protect Jewish Americans, to make them feel safe.How do you plan to do that?What does that look like for you personally?

Well, I happen to remember the nominating convention in 2018 when then Attorney General nominee Dana Nessel asked me to read her nomination officially into the books.So she felt perfectly safe with us there.I think it's important that all of us feel safe, and Jewish safety to me is a priority, just like the safety of my own daughters.But I do think it's important for us to differentiate between safety and between our different political positions about the interests of a foreign government.And I do think that it's unfortunate when people mix those issues.I've been very, very clear.

Jewish people and Judaism are a light unto the world.I'm deeply grateful for them, and I will always stand with the Jewish people against any anti -Semitism in any type, just like I understand the experience of being discriminated against for how I pray.I don't want anybody discriminated against for how they pray.But that's not the same as AIPAC or Israel.And I think there is a challenge when folks try to use a specter of antisemitism to extend it toward protecting a foreign government against criticism.And I think that's the place that the attorney general and I might disagree.

I'd be happy to have that conversation with her.But, you know, up until recently, we've had a great relationship.And I was honored that she invited me to read her nomination back in 2018, where I would think that she probably felt safe.

You said up until recently.I mean, what is the state of your relationship with her right now?

You know, that's kind of unimportant, but I do think all of us need to unite around beating Mike Rogers, around beating Republicans.And, you know, our relationship, you know, likely I haven't had a long conversation with her, but I do think it has a lot to do with the fact that I do talk about the fact that our responsibilities are here rather than backstopping a foreign government.And on that, she and I disagree.But I do hope that she feels safe at our Our nominating convention, I think it's really important for all people to feel safe, and it's a thing that I am committed to.So I do hope that she comes.We want all Democrats to be a part of the movement that we need to take on to address Donald Trump.

And if you ask yourself about safety, of people who pray differently.You heard what Donald Trump was saying about people like me.What do you think he was trying to highlight?He was trying to highlight aspects of my name and my faith in what is a play toward a kind of Islamophobia that I think none of us really want.So look, I understand what it's like to be made to feel unsafe.And so our responsibility is to take him on so that we have a politics that we can

embraces all people, whether you're Jewish or you're Muslim or you're Christian or you're Hindu or you're sick or you don't pray at all.You deserve to feel safe in this country.You deserve to feel safe in the Democratic Party.I'm committed to that.But I do think that we need to be very clear about differentiating between that and the interests of a foreign government.

Well, and you talked about when you've run for office, poor, death threats that you got, Islamophobia.If you do win, You will become the first Muslim senator in U .S.history.What would that mean for you?

It's not as much about what it means for me. I'm not ready to be the first Muslim in anything.I just want to be a really, really great senator for my state.But it does mean something, I think, about the country.There are people like J .D.Vance or Donald Trump or Mike Rogers who want to define America as being too small to include some kinds of people.

And they point to my name.They point to my faith.They try to insinuate that somehow I'm less American because of those things.But I've put myself forward, asking my state to give me their stake in democracy, to allow me to serve them as an agent of the government.And there is no greater call than to ask your fellow Americans to give you their stake in democracy.And when they do, I think it says a lot about what America is.

They want America to be small.I believe that America is big.It's open -minded.It's big -hearted.It can include any of us, regardless of how we pray, regardless of where our families come from, regardless of who we love or how we identify.That's the America we're building.

And I think America, and Michigan in particular, has an opportunity to remind us just how big we are.

your race, you are not a democratic socialist, you're not part of the DSA, you have members of them who endorsed you, who supported you.You know, one thing we were talking about last night as we were counting the votes in Michigan wasthis progressive rise that we've seen in recent weeks and months and what that looks like for Democrats come November.With the positions that you've had on Medicare for All or abolishing ICE or, you know, a billionaire's tax, what do you think that looks like in terms of going forward?You know, we've heard some people, Van Jones, saying there are some positions that you have that you'll have to moderate on.Is that your plan?

Is that your takeaway from what the margin was last night?Or what does that look like over the next 90 days?

Look, I think we've built a movement around the idea that we can get money out of politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for all.I think right now the question that people are asking is not where do you stand on the left's right spectrum on a series of issues that people talk about on CNN.I think the questions that people are asking is who's going to help me afford my housing?Who's going to help me afford my groceries?Who's going to make sure I can see a doctor if I get sick?I'm interested in answering those questions.

I'm not a socialist, but I am a scientist.And so I like empirically driven answers to hard problems.I like to solve them.When it comes to Medicare for All, I didn't just say it one day.I literally wrote a whole book on how we could do it.I went to medical school, did a PhD in public health, led health departments.

I have some experience in this matter.And so I'm interested in solutions to problems.Now, if trying to moderate so that I can placate folks who think that somehow the world operates on a left -right spectrum is the way to get elected.I just don't see that on the ground here in Michigan.I'm a lot more focused in having conversations based in people's lives, talking about the solutions, and I think that's exactly how we're going to win this election in the fall.

Abdul El -Sayed, thank you for joining us and really appreciate your first CNN interview since becoming the Democratic nominee for the primary.

Caitlin, thanks for having me.Always fun.