- 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.
