Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has a new plan, and it is aimed at the wrong party. On Tuesday, El-Sayed released the Building A Healthier America Policy Agenda, a health platform that borrows heavily from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement — a group that largely backed Donald Trump and the GOP in the last election.
The move is a direct play for RFK Jr.’s base, which El-Sayed is calling “MAHA voters.” But the platform’s pitch is blunt: Democrats, he argues, are the ones who actually care about health, while the current administration has sold them out.
The Platform’s Core Claims
El-Sayed’s agenda takes on pesticides, pollution, and corporate influence across food, agriculture, and healthcare. The centerpiece is a pledge to give people the right to sue pesticide manufacturers over harm caused by their products.
The platform also targets lead and microplastics in water, promising to strengthen federal drinking water rules. It backs investments in school meal programs and grocery stores on wheels. And it vows to get industry lobbyists out of regulatory agencies.
El-Sayed framed the rollout as a reminder that Democrats have always stood for public health, unlike the corporations that dominate Washington today. “I think we have an opportunity to remind folks that we’ve always been the people who want people to be healthier, rather than the folks who capitulate to the food, ag and pharmaceutical corporations that are too often on the wrong side of things,” he told CBS News.
Why El-Sayed Is Targeting Trump’s Base
El-Sayed is running for the Senate seat in a closely watched race that could determine which party controls the upper chamber. He has been vocal about healthcare issues throughout his campaign, pushing Medicare For All alongside a broader push to get money out of politics and address affordability.
He argues that MAHA voters who backed Trump and the GOP in 2024 felt Democrats ignored their healthcare fears. But he says those voters have since been “completely let down and lied to” on the issues that mattered to them.
The timing is notable. Since Kennedy endorsed Trump and galvanized his MAHA supporters, the administration has received praise for its emphasis on elements of the agenda, like phasing out artificial food dyes and encouraging whole-food diets. But it has also faced criticism on pesticides, after the president signed an executive order giving the federal government broad authority to boost the supply of glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup.
The Vaccine Question
Kennedy’s longtime vaccine skepticism has been under fire this year. The U.S. has recorded the most measles cases in more than three decades.
El-Sayed acknowledges the tension head-on. Asked about the vaccine dynamic, he said he believes he can win over MAHA voters despite differing views on the issue. “I will always be evidence-driven when it comes to vaccines,” he said. “But the key thing is that you want to know that what you’re feeding your kids and what you’re putting in the body is pure. And RFK Jr. and Donald Trump and Mike Rogers have failed that test in droves.”
What El-Sayed Wants From Kennedy
El-Sayed’s campaign is built on a simple contrast. He says MAHA voters were let down by a Trump administration that capitulated to corporations. “I think they’ve been completely let down by a Trump administration that has capitulated to the very corporations that are on the wrong side of all their issues — whether it’s the pharma industry, or it’s big ag, or it’s the food manufacturers,” he said. “I think they’ve been completely let down and lied to.”
He is also critical of Kennedy himself. Asked whether he would work with Kennedy to try to implement health proposals, should he be elected to the Senate, El-Sayed said it depends.
“Does he want to stand up to pharmaceutical corporations? Do you want to get pollutants out of our food environment? Does he want to stand up to big ag and big food? Does he want to take on ultra processed food? You know, that’s what I’m focused on,” he said. “If he wants to do any of those things, let’s talk about it. But right now, what he’s done is DOGE-ed out the parts of government that protect us, and then bent over to all of the corporations he said he’d never support. So I see him as a profound failure for what he said he was trying to work on.”
The Agenda’s Key Promises
The platform covers several areas:
- A right to sue pesticide manufacturers over harm caused by their products
- Accountability for polluters, with a pledge to get industry lobbyists out of regulatory agencies
- Removing lead and microplastics from water, in part by strengthening federal drinking water rules
- Investments in school meal programs and grocery stores on wheels
Each promise is designed to appeal to voters worried about corporate influence over food, water, and healthcare.
What This Means for the Race
El-Sayed is taking on former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in a race that could determine control of the Senate. His strategy is to peel off MAHA voters who feel Democrats have ignored them. Whether that works depends on whether those voters trust El-Sayed more than they trust Kennedy.
The platform is a statement of where El-Sayed stands. He is positioning himself as the candidate who will fight corporate influence, even as he criticizes the very administration that energized that movement. It is a bold move, and it puts him in an unusual position: attacking the party whose base he is trying to win.
The race will test whether El-Sayed’s message resonates with voters who backed Trump and Kennedy in the past. His argument is simple: Democrats want you to be healthier, and the administration has let you down.
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| El-Sayed’s race | Senate seat; could determine control of the upper chamber |
| Platform release | Tuesday |
| MAHA voters | Backed Trump and the GOP in 2024 |
| Vaccine dynamic | El-Sayed says he is evidence-driven on vaccines |
| Glyphosate order | President signed an executive order boosting supply |
See the video the story is built around at CBS News.
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