Obama Campaigns Alongside El-Sayed, Benson In Fiery Michigan Rally

DETROIT, Mich. — In his first day of in-person campaigning this cycle, former President Barack Obama skewered President Donald Trump and his administration while calling voters to arms in the Democrats’ arguably highest profile push to boost their candidates for governor and Senate to victory in Michigan.

“When you find somebody like Abdul El-Sayed, when you find somebody like Jocelyn Benson, when you find people who genuinely care about people, and who have a strong track record, and are offering real solutions, people who are not in this to enrich themselves but to serve, you’ve got to realize how precious that is and you have to deliver for them. We have got to make sure we elect them,” urged Obama.

He continued: “Abdul and Jocelyn understand that this election is not about them – it’s about you. It’s about us.”

Obama took the stage alongside secretary of state Jocelyn Benson, who maintains a slight polling edge in her race for governor against Republican challenger Rep. John James, who has previously ran for Senate.

“I am tired of politicians like my opponent who just do everything Donald Trump tells them to do. I’m tired of Donald Trump embarrassing us on the global stage with corruption and cruelty and chaos. So, Michigan, tonight I’m asking you to join me in saying enough. Enough. Tonight, I’m asking you to roll up your sleeves and work as hard as you can for the next 10 days,” encouraged Benson.

Obama’s boost can prove mission critical for the Democrats’ Senate candidate progressive firebrand Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in garnering support among Black voters, as some worry about lingering resentment from the Uncommitted Movement turning some voters against former Vice President Kamala Harris in her truncated bid for president in 2024. Harris campaigned alongside El-Sayed in late September.

El-Sayed, who also took the main stage at the Saturday night event, criticized Obama after his 2012 reelection in a HuffPost op-ed, writing Obama “was not the right choice — he just wasn’t the wrong one.” But on Saturday night, both Obama and El-Sayed acknowledged their difference of belief, stressing their morals and ideals bond, not divide, them.

“Disagreeing on means is different from disagreeing on ends, on our goals,” said Obama. “And Abdul shares my values of wanting everybody to get healthcare. He shares my values that if you work hard every day, you should have a living wage.”

The former president “showed us all what elegance, and grace, and determination look like in a politician and he showed me something in myself that apparently I never forgot,” El-Sayed said earlier.