Beating out ABC and NBC, Wednesday’s CBS Mornings secured a live interview with Michigan Democratic senatorial nominee and “progressive” Abdul el-Sayed that, at nearly six minutes long, largely let the socialist filibuster on his campaign talking points with only one probing question and a brief follow-up about his demands the U.S. cease all foreign aid to Israel, but wasn’t framed as anti-Semitic or anti-Jews.
The rest of the questions were inviting him to explain how he will “sway Haley Stevens supporters,” “[w]hat is your message to” “members of the Democratic establishment,” and if he’d support Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader.
Featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers set it up by calling el-Sayed “a progressive” whose “win would be a very big deal for the party’s left” and then wondering if he had spoken to his opponent, Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
WATCH: CBS actually had a live interview on Wednesday’s ‘CBS Mornings’ with Michigan socialist Abdul el-Sayed, referring to him as a “progressive,” and inviting him to explain how he will “sway Haley Stevens supporters,” “[w]hat is your message to” “members of the Democratic… pic.twitter.com/AJhzigpLZT
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 5, 2026
Once el-Sayed said he had yet to do so, but was “grateful for the hard-fought race that we had,” Duthiers lobbed a softball: “So, let’s talk about that unity. What do you think you need to do to sway Haley Stevens supporters over to your side?”
El-Sayed promptly delivered another stump speech (click “expand”):
Well, Vlad, I’ll tell you this, and we set out 13 months ago, 15 months ago now to build a movement, to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for All. Mike Rogers is a guy who wants to put more money in politics. He is dead set on taking money out of your pockets by colluding with some of the worst folks and the worst corporations who’ve taken money out. And, if he had his way, he would have Medicare for none. So, I think the things that bring us together are so much bigger, and the focus that we need to have to take on my garage and the Trumpism that he’s chosen to represent are the things that are gonna bring us together. There’s a lot of healing to do after a hard-fought primary like this, but I have said that this is a big, open movement. We welcome anybody and everybody who understands that we need a government of the people, by the people, and for the people to it, and I’m looking forward to welcoming our new friends to this coalition to beat Mike Rogers in the fall.
This went into the only challenging question, which Duthiers framed as concerning the fact that Stevens “was obviously pro-Israel” whereas he was “very clear about pulling back the spending for countries like the state of Israel.”
Duthiers then asked him to address what “many people see...as a false choice” in foreign aid being a few million dollars when “[t]he federal budget is nearly $7 trillion”:
But what would you say to some of her supporters who see Israel as a key ally of the United States, and that they deserve our financial support? I know that you’ve gone on the record to say that you think that that money that we spend should be spent and invested here in the United States. But many people see that as a false choice. The federal budget is nearly $7 trillion. Many voters would say that the United States can invest at home while also supporting allies whose security interests advance America’s own. How do you address that?
While a perfectly legitimate and arguably shrewd way of framing the issue, el-Sayed ducked by asserting Detroit schools do not appear as they “did 50 years ago,” and thus fixing them has somehow fallen by the wayside in favor of funding...Jews?
El-Sayed tried to have it both ways, invoking foreign aid to other arab countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Duthiers offered a brief follow-up: “But what kind of message does that send, doctor — what kind of message does that send to our allies, and our adversaries that the United States would not be willing to support a key ally in global strategy?”
El-Sayed ducked with another filibustering answer about the “principle” of not giving money for others “to do apartheid and genocide” while America’s in the midst of “an affordability crisis” (click “expand”):
Well, I think it would send that we’re about principle. If you’re gonna use the money that we send you to do apartheid and genocide, then you should think twice about getting our funding, and also think about the message that that sends to families who are in need in our own communities. It says that we see you, you have been contributing to our tax base for a very long time, and you haven’t been getting the deal that you deserve. It says that we really are about trying to make your life more affordable, trying to make sure that you have the resources you need, and it says that we believe you have the right to your tax dollars, and so, I think too often we’re too worried about what something says to someone else we’re not as worried about what we say to people who are struggling for the ability to afford the basic things that they need for a dignified life. We are in an affordability crisis right now. It is high past time for us to prioritize spending on the things that make people whole, guaranteeing their health care, making sure that they have housing and good schools, making sure they can breathe, clean air and drink, clean water, standing up to the corporations and special interests who have corrupted our politics for far too long.
Fill-in co-host and Entertainment Tonight co-host Nischelle Turner jumped in with a question from the left: “[M]embers of the Democratic establishment seemingly pulled together to try and defeat you — Chuck Schumer, Gretchen Whitmer, Jim Clyburn, all of those folks. What is your message to them today after seeing the race that you have run?”
El-Sayed resorted to reiterating past lines about the “historically corrupted President...who made $2.2 billion on his office in just the first year alone” and party seeking “to squash democracy itself,” both of which will have been “[held]...accountable for the next several years.”
Of course, Turner didn’t push back on this.
Duthiers had the last question about whom he’d support for Senate Democratic leader: “[D]o you think that it’s time for Chuck Schumer to step aside? Do you think that Chuck Schumer is — has the pulse of the Democratic Party?”
El-Sayed said he knew Schumer was “united” in the shared “goal” of him winning the seat, but only after emphasizing “I’ve said very clearly that I think Senator Chris Van Hollen would be an amazing Senate majority leader.”
Nothing about his views about the ayatollah, the attack on a Michigan synagogue, his ties to pro-9/11 podcaster Hasan Piker, his wife’s psychiatry practice refusing to accept health insurance, or links to radical imams, to name a few.
Reminder: CBS News is not MAGA TV.
To see the relevant CBS transcript from August 5, click here.
