On Thursday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “All In,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that he agrees with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) that, if Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed wins, it means any candidate can win anywhere.
Host Chris Hayes asked, “Abdul El-Sayed is, in the polling average, ahead narrowly. It looks like it’s going to be a close race. This is something that AOC said, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of course, a friend of yours and someone that you endorsed, said about the stakes of the race, at least from sort of the perspective, I think, of this kind of progressive lane of the Democratic Party, ‘If Abdul can win in Michigan, anyone can win anywhere.‘ Do you agree with that?”
Sanders answered, “I do. Michigan is a tough, purple state, and he is running, not only against Elon Musk and Trump and all of the huge amounts of money being spent against him, but let’s be frank: Trump today just put out a racist statement, calling Abdul a terrorist, etc., etc. They’re trying to foment Islamophobia. And that’s tough to deal with. But I honestly believe that, as a country, way back in 1960, John F. Kennedy had to run against the fact that he was a Catholic. But we overcame that. And Obama certainly had to run against the racism of him being black. And I’m confident that the people of Michigan are going to look at the issues, understand that Abdul is out there fighting for working people, fighting for healthcare for all, prepared to take on the billionaire class, and he’s going to win this despite the terrible racism that he is experiencing right now in that state.”
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