There’s still time to cancel, Mr. President. Barack Obama is slated to travel to Michigan to help Abdul El-Sayed make his final case to voters as we close out the 2026 midterms. As we’ve noted, it’s déjà vu: every time this man has to go to a reliably blue state, disaster strikes. He did the same for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and she lost the state. The most popular Democrat having to venture up there suggests things aren’t steady, especially with black voters. And Obama isn’t going to change that in a couple of weeks. Also, El-Sayed trashed Obama’s presidency and has core agenda items diametrically opposed to the former president's.
NEW: Footage and interviews reviewed by CNN repeatedly show Abdul El-Sayed — who is set to campaign with Barack Obama — calling Obama’s presidency a failure and that the country was no better off after eight years of his presidency. https://t.co/saLMgrldVY
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) October 7, 2026
El-Sayed added of Obama’s first election, “That memory will serve not as a reminder of the history we made that night – but of the silly emotions of a naïve young man who didn’t understand that hope and change required more than flowery prose and a winning smile.” https://t.co/EP20xd7EWO
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) October 7, 2026
In 2020, El-Sayed twice said the country was not “better off,” after Obama’s two terms. El-Sayed praised Obama in a statement provided to CNN: https://t.co/saLMgrldVY https://t.co/jqu1t7omu6
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) October 7, 2026
And don’t take it from us: Cornel West also said that El-Sayed isn’t really aligned with ‘brother’ Obama:
Dr. Cornel West TORCHES Barack Obama ahead of the Obama rally for Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed: El-Sayed’s crucial issues are “genocide in Gaza,” “Wall Street bailed out,” and “single-payer healthcare.” West: “Brother Barack Obama opposes all of those.” West on CNN NewsNight: “You got Brother El-Sayed saying on the one hand, you got genocide in Gaza, you’ve got Wall Street bailed out, and you’ve got single-payer healthcare. Those are crucial issues for him. Brother Barack Obama opposes all of those. Why? Because he is part of the central, moderate, neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party, and he is a masterful campaigner. You can’t, you can’t downplay that. And he helps candidates, but there is a certain hypocrisy saying, what these red lines are, genocide in Gaza, single health payer, and bailing out Wall Street, when he’s got a critique of corporate America that I resonate very deeply, but he wants to win, so I can understand that
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 6, 2026
“You got Brother El-Sayed saying on the one hand, you got genocide in Gaza, you’ve got Wall Street bailed out, and you’ve got single-payer healthcare. Those are crucial issues for him. Brother Barack Obama opposes all of those. Why? Because he is part of the central, moderate, neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party, and he is a masterful campaigner. You can’t, you can’t downplay that. And he helps candidates, but there is a certain hypocrisy saying, what these red lines are, genocide in Gaza, single health payer, and bailing out Wall Street, when he’s got a critique of corporate America that I resonate very deeply, but he wants to win, so I can understand that
This goes beyond strange bedfellows. These two guys aren't on the same page about anything.
And yes, El-Sayed has a black voter problem.
On CNN, Ron Brownstein points out that Abdul El-Sayed had a serious problem: "I was in a Black church in Detroit... and the minister excoriated El-Sayed, said he was more concerned about Gaza than about Detroit." Abdul deserves this criticism. https://t.co/BNCTc4Fnrr
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 7, 2026