The former Wayne County health director, who is in the middle of a contentious battle for the U.S. Senate seat against Republican Mike Rogers, caught up with CBS News Detroit in a one-on-one interview on Wednesday. El-Sayed has remained in the spotlight since his victory over Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary earlier this month.
El-Sayed once again challenged Rogers to another debate, saying the contrast with his opponent “couldn’t be more clear.” The two candidates have already agreed to a debate in October.
El-Sayed drew attention this week after left-wing streamer Hasan Piker — who campaigned with El-Sayed in the Democratic primary — made comments about Israel and Jewish Americans and criticized state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District race who has not endorsed El-Sayed. Piker’s comments drew pushback from some Democrats.
Moss said in a statement that “I will not be lectured by a California podcaster about what Oakland County, Michigan’s Jewish community should and shouldn’t believe.”
Following Piker’s remarks, El-Sayed said that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”
When asked by CBS News Detroit if there will be future campaign events with Piker, El-Sayed said, “We have no intention to campaign.” El-Sayed also confirmed that he has been in contact with Moss.
Piker’s support for El-Sayed has also caught the attention of Democratic Rep. Hilary Scholten, who said she hasn’t endorsed El-Sayed and still has questions for him. The Detroit News reported that while Scholten opposes Piker, she “wouldn’t go as far as to say” she’s speaking against El-Sayed.
When speaking on Scholten, El-Sayed said, “She’s got her own decision to make. If her differences with me, to her, are bigger than our collective differences with [President] Donald Trump, that’s for her to decide.”
“It’s time for us to come together as a party and build together,” he later added. “We did pretty well in [Scholten’s] district … so we’re going to keep having conversations with Democrats there.”
Note: The video above originally aired on Aug. 7, 2026.
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