Let me tell you something. I spent forty-five minutes at the Kroger last Tuesday trying to feed four kids on a budget that used to cover us fine three years ago. Forty-five minutes. Comparing unit prices on chicken like I’m defusing a bomb. And then I get home, open my phone, and see the President of the United States posting side-by-side glamour shots of himself and Melania next to a photo of a Michigan Senate candidate and his wife eating pancakes, with the caption “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s.”
Sir. SIR. With respect. What are you doing.
The man in the pancake photo is Abdul El-Sayed. He just won the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan. He’s a doctor. An epidemiologist. He ran the health department in Wayne County. He wants people to be able to go to the doctor without choosing between that and the electric bill. And Donald Trump’s response is to post a weird Instagram-style comparison grid like he’s running for eighth-grade class president?
Conlan Houston (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia CommonsTrump stood up and told people El-Sayed “hates” Jewish people “with a passion that burns in his heart.” I’m sorry, but have you listened to the man speak? He went on CNN and said, “I love and revere Judaism and the Jewish people.” He said AIPAC is not the same thing as Jewish people. That’s not a controversial statement. That’s basic critical thinking. I taught my nine-year-old the difference between a lobbying group and a religion last summer. It took about ten minutes.
Here’s what El-Sayed actually said that got everybody’s knickers in a twist: “It’s not radical to believe that people should be able to afford their groceries. It’s not radical to believe that you should have healthcare in this country. It’s not radical to believe that the president shouldn’t make $2.2 billion off of his role in office.”
I read that three times. I sent it to the group chat. Jessica, who votes Republican and will not be named here, texted back: “Okay that’s actually fine.” Even Jessica.
Shealeah Craighead (Public domain) via Wikimedia CommonsBecause here’s the thing nobody in Washington wants to hear. I don’t care about your Truth Social posts. I don’t care about your side-by-side photo collages. I care that my grocery bill is up 40 percent and my health insurance premium just went up again and I got a letter from the school saying they’re cutting the art program. Again. I care that $60 million in outside money got dumped into a Michigan primary to stop one guy from talking about healthcare. Sixty. Million. Dollars. That’s not democracy. That’s a hostage situation with better branding.
El-Sayed beat Rep. Haley Stevens despite AIPAC alone spending over $30 million against him. Thirty million dollars to stop a doctor from talking about Medicare for All. Do you know what thirty million dollars could do for my kids’ school district? I do. I did the math at the kitchen table last night while the pasta was boiling.
Now he’s facing Mike Rogers in November. Rogers is the Republican who apparently thinks the path to victory is letting Donald Trump post mean memes about his opponent’s wife. Bold strategy. Let’s see how it plays with moms who are choosing between gas and groceries.
Donald Trump (Public domain) via Wikimedia CommonsEl-Sayed said something on CNN that stuck with me. He said Trump’s vision of America “is the one you’re living in right now.” Then he asked: “Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they’re going to have a better future than you did?”
I looked my kids in the eye that night. I didn’t have a good answer.