He never raises his voice. Tuesday evening, at the Majestic Theater in Detroit, the room chanted the name of Abdul El-Sayed. He, imperturbable, leafed through his notes like a studious rifle. His supporters nickname him by his title: “Dr. Abdul.” In one evening, this 41-year-old doctor became the symbol of the ideological transformation of the Democratic Party – a victory that extends beyond the borders of his Midwestern state.
By defeating Haley Stevens, candidate in the senatorial primary, supported by a large part of the establishment and significant financial resources, El-Sayed demonstrated that the progressive wing was capable of taking control of the party. Including in key states for the presidential election.
Son of Egyptian immigrants settled in the Detroit area, he is the product of the American Dream. A graduate of the University of Michigan, a scholar at Oxford, then a doctor of medicine at Columbia, he could have led his career in the most prestigious hospitals in the country. However, he chose public health, convinced that “politics makes people sick as much as viruses do”.
Taxation of the rich, abolition of the immigration police, support for the Palestinians: El-Sayed ticks all the markers of the far left. He described the Israeli offensive against Hamas as “genocide”. Michigan has become a political laboratory. It is home to the largest concentration of American Muslims, particularly around Dearborn, where Iraqis, Yemenis and Lebanese occupy a central place. By 2024, part of this electorate had broken with Biden.
Trump rejoices. Radical candidates will “ruin our country”he warned on Fox News, with their cities “disgusting”. A godsend for the November midterms: nothing beats the socialist scarecrow.
