Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed once dismissed Barack Obama’s reelection as no progressive victory, yet the former president now plans to campaign beside him in Detroit.
Fox News reported that a 2012 HuffPost op-ed by El-Sayed has resurfaced just as Obama prepares to share a stage with the progressive Democrat. Obama posted that he looks forward to appearing in Detroit on Oct. 24 for El-Sayed, gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, and Democrats across the Michigan ballot.
El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate nomination after a tight primary against Rep. Haley Stevens. Obama stayed out of that contest. Now the former president is lending his name in the closing stretch against Republican Mike Rogers in a race that could help decide Senate control.
The old writing does not match the new photo opportunity. Days after the 2012 election, El-Sayed argued Obama had delivered far less change than promised and left progressives settling for the lesser of two poor options.
He wrote that he had voted for Obama in 2008 and again in 2012, yet still felt the record fell short on the economy, civil liberties, and overseas strikes.
"But I have to say now what I’ve been holding in throughout his campaign and what I think all of us have to admit: Obama was not the right choice, he just wasn’t the wrong one."
That line sat beside sharper complaints. El-Sayed said inequality had grown starker and that young people who bought the “hope and change” slogan still could not find meaningful work.
"We really like the idea of Obama... let’s be clear, for progressives who care about peace, prosperity, civil liberties and the future of our country, Obama’ reelection last night was no victory. It was the rock we chose over the hard place,"
He also faulted the administration’s record abroad, including strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, and said he felt no more accepted as a Muslim American. The El-Sayed campaign did not immediately answer questions about those 2012 views or his present take on Obama’s legacy.
National Review noted that El-Sayed’s criticism of Obama stretched across years, including claims the country was not “better off” and that “the list of his failures goes on.” In a July 2026 New Yorker interview he still credited Obama as an inspiration while arguing the former president could have pushed a more progressive agenda.
"I don’t get to do what I’m doing without President Obama doing what he did,"
That softer line now sits next to the hard 2012 text. Voters get both versions at once: the young progressive who called the reelection a reluctant compromise, and the nominee happy to stand beside the same former president for votes.
El-Sayed has run as a clear progressive voice. He backs Medicare for all, tuition-free higher education, lower housing costs, and opposes corporate tax carve-outs. Those positions helped him in the primary even as they exposed the party’s left-right split.
His rhetoric on immigration enforcement has already drawn attention in the same race. The pattern is consistent: bold left claims on the trail, then a high-profile assist from a more centrist Democratic icon when the general election tightens.
The New York Post reported that El-Sayed defeated Stevens by less than a percentage point in August. The Oct. 24 Detroit event lands on the first day of Michigan early in-person voting and is meant to consolidate support in an open seat.
Obama has taped roughly two dozen ads for Democratic governor and Senate candidates. The Detroit stop fits a late push in several competitive races rather than a full-time surrogate schedule.
Just the News described the Michigan contest as one of as many as seven races that could determine which party holds the Senate. Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor and current secretary of state, is also billed for the same rally.
Party leaders clearly want turnout and unity after a bruising primary. El-Sayed’s earlier warning to a radical streamer about extreme rhetoric costing votes showed he understands the general-election math even while keeping his progressive brand.
That tension is not new. Past coverage of the race already tracked how left-wing allies and swing voters pull in opposite directions. Obama’s appearance tries to bridge the gap with star power rather than policy compromise.
Breitbart reported that the Detroit rally also aims to heal divisions the primary laid bare. El-Sayed’s win over the more moderate Stevens handed the nomination to the left of the party; Obama’s visit is the establishment’s answer in the final weeks.
Left-wing figures have treated an El-Sayed victory as proof their wing can compete in the Midwest. AOC’s pitch to donors framed the race in exactly those terms. That message sits uneasily beside a joint ticket-style event with the man El-Sayed once said was merely “not the wrong” choice.
Obama’s post kept the language simple and forward-looking.
"Looking forward to being in Detroit on 10/24 to campaign for Jocelyn Benson, Abdul El-Sayed and Democrats up and down the ballot in Michigan,"
No mention of 2012. No reckoning with the earlier op-ed. Just a calendar date and a list of names.
The same candidate who once said he felt “little hope because there has been less change” now accepts the help. The former president who sat out the primary now shows up for the nominee.
Additional reporting on the Detroit stop has already framed it as a bid for chamber control. The politics are straightforward: a progressive needs broader appeal, and a former president needs to deliver seats.
El-Sayed’s platform still calls for bigger government roles in health care, education, and housing. Those demands have not softened. What has changed is the willingness to stand next to the leader he once graded as inadequate.
Michigan voters will see the joint appearance. They can also read the 2012 words for themselves. The contrast does not require extra spin.
When the left’s rising stars need votes in a toss-up state, yesterday’s sharp critique becomes today’s awkward silence, and the establishment still gets the final speaking slot.
