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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Riley Hoffman

FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Bill clintons 2007 praise for michigan senate hopeful abdul el sayed resurfaces | History Defined

Abdul El-Sayed Bill Clinton Jon Stewart Michigan Mike Rogers Medical School University of Michigan Podcast Republican
  • A 2007 University of Michigan commencement video went viral on X ahead of Election Day, showing former President Bill Clinton praising then-student valedictorian Abdul El-Sayed.
  • “I don’t want to embarrass your senior speaker,” Clinton began. “But I wish every person in the world who believes that we are fated to have a clash of civilizations, and cannot reach across the religious divides, could have heard you speak today.” The camera then zooms in on then-valedictorian El-Sayed, who spoke right before. “I just wish every person in the world could have heard you speak today,” Clinton said.
  • El-Sayed, now a Michigan Democratic Senate nominee, recalled the event on Jon Stewart's podcast The Weekly Show , El-Sayed shared how Clinton personally encouraged him to consider a career in politics. “My whole life, all of my mentors have told me I’m going to run for office,” El-Sayed told Stewart. “And I’m like, that’s some crazy bulls***.”
  • “After the speech, President Clinton comes up to me. He’s like, ‘Son, why are you going to medical school?’” El-Sayed explained to Stewart, laughing at how that’s not really the typical question one gets “when you go to medical school.”
  • Nearly 20 years later, El-Sayed is engrossed in a close and contentious battle for a Michigan Senate seat against Republican Mike Rogers .
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