Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed brought his campaign to the University of Michigan Wednesday, rallying supporters around healthcare reform and trade policy.
The rally was part of a broader push by Democrats to boost youth voter turnout.
El-Sayed championed "Medicare for all," arguing that universal health insurance would decouple coverage from employment and eliminate steep out-of-pocket costs.
"Medicare for all would be cheaper than the current system,” El-Sayed said. “Why? Because the whole system relies on us paying extra money into the system to pay the overhead of the health insurance system. That overhead goes away. No CEOs, no marketing budget, no army of billers — that all goes away."
Meanwhile, El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, former Congressman Mike Rogers, supports a narrower proposal focused on reducing prescription drug prices, containing healthcare costs, and improving price transparency.
Trade policy served as another central focal point of the rally, with El-Sayed sharply criticizing the Trump administration's new tariffs on Canadian goods.
El-Sayed said tariffs already cost a typical Michigan household thousands of dollars, even before the new 50% tariff on some Canadian imports.
The Trump administration has said tariffs protect American industries and workers and keep domestic supply chains running.
El-Sayed argued that while tariffs can be beneficial, the current trade policy is unfairly burdening consumers.
"There is a logical use of some tariffs. This just ain't it," El-Sayed said.
