On the Ground in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed
Tommy flies out to Detroit to talk to Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, asking him about his masculinity-forward campaign, the electorate's appetite for candidates who fight back, and how to restore trust in the American healthcare system. But first, Tommy sits down with Jon to talk about the energy he saw on the ground in Michigan, what he heard from voters, and what it'll take for Abdul to win come November.Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.You can request a transcript by emailing [email protected]. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.
- Duration
- 1h 11m
- Broadcast on
- 13 Sep 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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(upbeat music) - Welcome to Plata Dave America, I'm John Favreau. - And I'm Tommy Vitor, hello from Detroit, Michigan. How you doing? - Hello. - How's it going there? What are you doing there? - It's been great. - I came out to see Michigan Senate candidate Abdul Alsad on the campaign trail interviewed him last night in Detroit after a town hall event. As you guys know, as the listeners know, this is one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country. The Democrats just had a bruising primary that pitted progressives against the establishment, APAC in Israel versus with the left position on a bunch of foreign policy issues. And now Republicans are propping up Mike Rogers, who is conservative, national security official from a different era of Republican politics. And this is gonna be a knife fight between now and election day. So I wanna get out here, get on the ground and see what it looked like. - Nice, how was it? How was, we can get to Abdul, but like what did you see on the ground? - It was a very quick trip in the, Tommy's fantasy version of this trip. I went to Detroit last night and then event in Lansing today and then tailgated with Abdul and before the Michigan football game. - Oh, that was fun. - I know, but you'll be surprised to learn that didn't fly with Hannah. (laughs) The three-year-old and the two-year-old at home. Yeah, a little bit going on. So it was a quick trip, flew out 6 a.m. Thursday, landed to Detroit. Then we went to Wayne County Community College where Abdul was holding his town hall meeting. So we interviewed a bunch of voters coming in, got to hang out with Abdul for a bit off the record before the event, watched him speak and did, he did a Q&A, a gaggle with press, and then he sat down with us for an interview before he then did a CNN hit. So it was a very long day for him.
Transcription truncated.
Tommy flies out to Detroit to talk to Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, asking him about his masculinity-forward campaign, the electorate's appetite for candidates who fight back, and how to restore trust in the American healthcare system. But first, Tommy sits down with Jon to talk about the energy he saw on the ground in Michigan, what he heard from voters, and what it'll take for Abdul to win come November.Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.You can request a transcript by emailing [email protected]. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.