Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed accepts former Vice President Kamala Harris’ support

Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has accepted the endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, actively campaigning alongside her during a joint appearance in Detroit on September 22, 2026. While El-Sayed welcomed her support, he spoke candidly about his past political disagreements with her, particularly regarding the Biden-Harris administration's foreign policy. He acknowledged that he has clear differences with Harris regarding the war in Gaza, noting, "My disagreements with the then-Vice President's positions on Gaza are clear. And I still disagree with the position on which she ran in 2024".

Despite these differences, El-Sayed defended his decision to endorse and campaign for Harris during the 2024 presidential race, explaining it as a choice between options, “because I understood that Donald Trump would be worse".

He framed their joint appearance as a sign of unified, pragmatic governance, that there are differences but they could collaborate and bring people together for their issues they agree upon.

Harris ventured to Detroit to support his campaign against Republican candidate Mike Rogers for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat. The two joined a roundtable focused on Black maternal healthcare at Birth Detroit, where El-Sayed praised the opportunity to collaborate on domestic policies, and toted his investing in healthcare, apparently referring to “Medicare for All”.

Meanwhile, at the roundtable, former Vice President Kamala Harris stated that "an attack on DEI, to recognize diversity, equity and inclusion, is an attack by definition on maternal care." Harris argued that political efforts to eliminate DEI programs actively strip away necessary, targeted protections designed to support minority communities during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. She linked anti-DEI efforts directly to reduced federal funding for maternal health research, including studies on conditions like uterine fibroids that disproportionately affect Black women.

Harris criticized political leaders who champion "family values" while simultaneously backing measures to dissolve DEI initiatives and slice healthcare funding, calling the contradiction a form of "hypocrisy".

Harris stated, "I have not decided if I'm going to run again," when asked about a potential 2028 presidential campaign.