Watch: Bill Clinton compliments Abdul El-Sayed almost 20 years before midterm victory

Archival video footage from a 2007 University of Michigan commencement ceremony shows former president Bill Clinton praising then-student valedictorian Abdul El-Sayed almost 20 years before the Senator-elect's victory in the 2026 midterm elections.

The clip went viral on X ahead of Election Day. Clinton said of El-Sayed: "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 [him] speak today."

Ahead of the midterm elections, El-Sayed told Jon Stewart's podcast, The Weekly Show, about how Clinton personally encouraged him to consider politics.