STORY: Prominent progressive lawmakers lent their considerable anti-establishment star power to support U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign rally in Detroit on Saturday (July 18).

"We turn the ship around by rising to our aspirations and our greatest ideals," Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told El-Sayed's supporters at the rally.

"We will never win the heart of this country by shrinking from who we are. And Abdul El-Sayed is America. We all are America."

Ocasio-Cortez was joined by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who have built a strong following among progressives in the Democratic Party.

It's a voting group El-Sayed, a public health expert, has appealed to as he battles for the Democratic nomination in the state against the more mainstream candidate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. Stevens currently leads El-Sayed in the polls.

"It just shouldn't be this hard - shouldn't be this hard to afford a second bag of groceries," El-Sayed said at the rally. "Shouldn't be this hard to pay a rent. Shouldn't be this hard to believe you could ever own a home."

Ocasio-Cortez, a New Yorker who identifies as a democratic socialist, is one of the country’s most vocal progressives and is seen as the likeliest heir to the movement that Sanders built through his two presidential campaigns.

Tens of millions of dollars have flowed into the Michigan Senate race from outside political action committees.

Michigan will hold its Democratic primary election on August 4.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (JULY 18, 2026) (REUTERS - Music not cleared for use. Please check with the applicable collecting society or relevant rights holders in your territory regarding clearance of any sound recordings.)

1. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, RASHIDA TLAIB, WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM AT RALLY FOR MICHIGAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE, ABDUL EL-SAYED

2. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MICHIGAN), SAYING:

"When I see supporters of others literally using Islamophobic tropes to attack our people that we support just because they support Medicare for all. We are motivated instead by love and compassion and fairness and justice. That's what we are."

4. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM

5. OCASIO-CORTEZ ON STAGE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NEW YORK), SAYING:

"We are here because in November Democrats have to win a majority in Congress. We have to win a majority in the House and we have to win a majority in the Senate and we need a firewall against an administration that is hell-bent on tearing down in four years what it took this country 250 years to build."

7. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NEW YORK), SAYING:

"There are things happening in this country that people everywhere are shocked by. A government of, by, and for the oligarchs. Masked ICE paramilitary agents shooting Americans in the street with no further questions. A president and administration so corrupt that they don't even bother hiding their self-dealing anymore. Members of Congress and Trump insiders getting themselves rich on insider trading and online betting while you can't even make your rent. A genocide in Gaza committed with American bombs and financed by our American dollars while our kids here at home have to ration their inhalers because politicians tell us that healthcare is too expensive."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NEW YORK), SAYING:

"We turn the ship around by rising to our aspirations and our greatest ideals. We will never win the heart of this country by shrinking from who we are. And Abdul El-Sayed is America. We all are America."

11. U.S. SENATOR, BERNIE SANDERS, ON STAGE

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR, BERNIE SANDERS, SAYING:

"They understand quite correctly that when Abdul is elected to the Senate, he will work with me and other progressives in taking on the greed of the billionaire class and fight for an economy and a government that works for all of us, not just the 1%. That is what the billionaires are afraid of, and hey, billionaires, you should be afraid."

13. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR, BERNIE SANDERS, SAYING:

"We are experiencing, year after year, the hottest weathers that we have ever seen, record-breaking temperatures, Europe, all over the United States, and now here in Detroit, you have been breathing the air that comes from those forest fires. Abdul understands that we can create millions of good-paying union jobs as we transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy."

15. MICHIGAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE, ABDUL EL-SAYED, WALKING ONTO STAGE AND HUGGING SANDERS

16. EL-SAYED ON STAGE

17. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHIGAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE, ABDUL EL-SAYED, SAYING:

"Now listen y'all, it just shouldn't be this hard - shouldn't be this hard to afford a second bag of groceries. Shouldn't be this hard to pay a rent. Shouldn't be this hard to believe you could ever own a home. Shouldn't be this hard to stay in your home if you're over 65. Shouldn't be this hard to see a doctor in the richest, most powerful country in the world. Shouldn't be this hard to pay your taxes and know that that money is going to be spent on you, rather than to drop bombs on somebody else and their kids."

19. EL-SAYED ON STAGE

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHIGAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE, ABDUL EL-SAYED, SAYING:

"So it is time for us in this country to stand up and decide that we are no longer going to send unconditional foreign military aid to foreign governments. Not Israel, not Egypt, not Jordan, not Saudi Arabia. I want my tax dollars in Michigan. I want good schools in Michigan, I want good roads in Michigan! I want health care in Michigan, I want child care in Michigan. I want my money spent in Michigan."

21. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHIGAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE, ABDUL EL-SAYED, SAYING:

"When they tell us they want to put that data center in our backyard, we won't back down. When they tell us that they want to take our tax dollars and give them there, when we've got kids who need them here, we won't back down! When they tell us we can't have union representation, we won't back down. When the billionaires tell us we can't tax them, we won't back down."

23. OCASIO-CORTEZ, SANDERS, AND EL-SAYED ON STAGE TOGETHER AFTER SPEECHES

24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RALLY ATTENDEE, KEITH MILLER, SAYING:

"And I love it man. I love the energy. I love being a part of something that's moving towards the right direction and Abdul looks like he's going to do what is necessary."

25. RALLY ATTENDEE, WAHBEH NUSEIBEH, OUTSIDE VENUE

26. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RALLY ATTENDEE, WAHBEH NUSEIBEH, SAYING:

"You know, Abdul's got it right. Money out of politics, Medicare for all, and more money in your pocket. That's what he stands for, and that's 100% how the government should work."

27. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RALLY ATTENDEE AND CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER, LILA BRICKNER, SAYING:

"We've knocked thousands of doors and the message is clear. Voters are ready for change and the status quo just isn't doing it anymore. We need people that are ready to stand up to Donald Trump in this fascist administration and Abdul is that person. (Candidate for Congress) Donovan McKinney is that person and our Chris Gilmer-Hill for state rep is that person."

28. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RALLY ATTENDEE, KAREN O'KEEFE, SAYING:

"(In our democracy currently) we need to be bold. That's what I heard. This 'electability' and staying in the middle of the road isn't going to make the changes that we need as Americans."

29. EL-SAYED ON STAGE WITH SANDERS, TLAIB, OCASIO-CORTEZ AND OTHERS AFTER SPEECH