Transcript: Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 13, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sept. 13, 2026.

WEIJIA JIANG: We go now to Michigan's Democratic nominee for Senate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He joins us from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Good morning, Dr. El-Sayed. Welcome to Face the Nation.

WEIJIA JIANG: So, I do want to ask you about AI, but let's talk first about the RNC convention because you were a main character. Several speakers mentioned you. Everyone from the president, the vice president, your opponent Mike Rogers, to the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Here's what he said.

SPEAKER JOHNSON: We know who the Mamdanis and the El-Sayeds are, but it's the Democrats in the swing seats who say one thing and then join forces and vote with the socialists that they're afraid of. That is the dangerous part. They're the ones who have let the barbarians inside the gate.

WEIJIA JIANG: What do you make of Republicans focusing so much attention on you?

DR. EL-SAYED: Well, I'll tell you this: the barbarian is in the White House, and we're seeing the consequences of that right now. You know, it was not a subject at all of the RNC? the gas prices, grocery prices, these ridiculous tariffs, and this war with Canada that's raising our prices an average $5,600 a year for the average Michigan family. The war in Iran- didn't want to talk about any of it. The fact that you can't see a doctor in the United States. So, they're going to point to me. They're going to talk about me. They're going to point to my name. They're going to point to our faith. And at the end of the day, they're doing that so that you don't pay attention to the fact that you are being nickled and dimed by the barbarian in the White House and by a set of public policies that are not in your interest, but in his.

WEIJIA JIANG: Well, several Republicans did continue to mention your campaigning with Hasan Piker, who is known for making incendiary remarks. Your opponent, Mike Rogers, calls him your running mate. What is your current relationship with Piker?

DR. EL-SAYED: I'll tell you this, I don't know if Mike Rogers has a running mate, but when you run for U.S. Senate, you don't actually have one. I'm actually running to represent the people in my state, which is why while he was in Dallas saying that I was in Detroit. Dallas is not in Michigan. I'm sure he won all of the Michigan votes in Dallas. Now the only reason he went to Dallas is because he cannot break with the president, and when the president tells him to do something to jump, he's going to say how high. It's the same reason he won't comment on the tariffs. It's the same reason he won't talk about gas prices being driven up by this war in Iran. So, they want to make this about a streamer in California. I want to make this about affordability in Michigan, and they can't talk about it because it's their policies that are driving them up. So yes, they can continue to distract. That's fine. Let's see how well that goes for them.