Michigan’s new Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed isn’t wasting any time. He’s been making the rounds on Capitol Hill and talking with media outlets since his hard-fought election victory in the midterms.
He’s also apparently ready to start treating President Donald Trump like the bully he is, escalating a growing war of words between himself and Trump.
The Rhodes scholar and former Detroit Health Department executive director is suggesting a possible way to pass universal health care or Medicare for all and get Trump on board with it or at least force a veto.
During an interview with NPR on Wednesday, El-Sayed appealed to Trump’s vanity, suggesting a bill to provide health care to all Americans could be named after the president himself.
“Put his name on it,” the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate told NPR’s Leila Fadel on the video podcast “Newsmakers.”
“He’ll probably pass it. I’m not above doing that. I don’t care what it’s called,” a serious El-Sayed said.
Then he went a step further.
“I dare Donald Trump to veto. I dare him,” the Michigan Democrat challenged, “because if you want to make the argument that Democrats want to deliver for you, do that. Make him veto it.”
He doubled down on the offer, too, in a social media post directed squarely at the president.
“This is a message for @realDonaldTrump Donald, this is on the table. Guarantee healthcare for every American, from cradle to grave,” El-Sayed baited Trump in a caption over an image showing a gold “TRUMPCARE” card.
The post had almost 4 million views by noon on Thursday.
A day before his NPR interview, El-Sayed told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins the same thing about naming universal health insurance “Trumpcare-For-All.”
“Donald, if you’re watching, we can put your name on it. I know you like to put your name on stuff. You can finally meet the unmet promise in America to guarantee everybody health care. So, it’s on the table if you want to do it,” he offered.
In the same interview with NPR, the incoming U.S. senator threw caution to the wind and repeated what he said about Trump on the campaign trail.
“You recently called President Trump the dumbest effing guy who ever was president,” Fadel said.
El-Sayed agreed. “True.”
Fadel continued, “You’ve also said Democrats should drop the decorum and treat the president as the unserious fool that he is.”
Again, El-Sayed agreed. “True.”
“Why are you taking that approach?” Fadel asked him.
El-Sayed didn’t hold back, explaining how to handle a “bully.”
“Because he’s a bully alongside being a narcissist. And the only way you deal with bullies is to stand up to them. Bullies don’t bully you because they necessarily care for the thing you have. They bully you because they like to bully you because it makes them feel strong,” the Democrat stated.
“And the way you take on a bully is to bully back because then they learn that this does not make them feel strong. It makes them feel weak, and they don’t like to feel weak. So they back off,” he continued.
He also said you can’t let a “bully” get away with it because then they just continue the behavior.
“So, I think it’s important for us to stand up to him.”
Trump and his mini-me JD Vance spent the months leading up to the Nov. 3 midterms calling El-Sayed the worst names possible, from Jihadist and terrorist to a member of the political Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Trump also accused El-Sayed of being a “jihadist lunatic” who was “on the side of terrorists,” NPR reported.
Unfortunately for Vance, he will be tasked with swearing in all the new senators in January, including El-Sayed.
“I hope he doesn’t make it awkward,” he told NPR. “There is, as I said, a delicious irony in the fact that he is constitutionally obligated to swear me in.”
Social media is fully backing El-Sayed.
“Finally, someone who can meet the moment we are in,” an X user proclaimed.
Author Joyce Carol Oates agreed, commenting “spoken like a true leader,” above a clip of the El-Sayed’s NPR interview.
Another poster may have said it best about El-Sayed comments on Trump’s bullying and how to handle a bully: “Perfect answer.”
