Democratic Frontrunner in Michigan Senate Primary Faces Complaint Over ‘Doctor’ Moniker
Progressive Abdul El-Sayed has never been licensed as a physician.
Abdul El-Sayed is not a physician, but he plays one on the campaign trail. The Democratic contender for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat’s continued claims to be a doctor triggered a complaint to the Michigan Bureau of Professional Licensing last week.
The Center to Advance Security in America filed the complaint about the progressive Democratic frontrunner, which Michigan News Source first reported. “Public reporting shows that El-Sayed has never been granted a medical license in either Michigan or New York,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told the outlet. “Given the confusion and the potential for the deception of Michigan residents, we are requesting a full investigation by the Michigan Bureau of Professional Licensing. Any representation that may have the public believe that El-Sayed is licensed to practice medicine should be closely examined.”
Michigan law states: “An individual who is not licensed or registered under this article shall not use an insignia, title, or letter, or a word, letter, or phrase singly or in combination, with or without qualifying words, letters, or phrases, under a circumstance to induce the belief that the person is licensed or registered in this state, is lawfully entitled in this state to engage in the practice of a health profession regulated by this article, or is otherwise in compliance with this article.”
Republicans were quick to support the complaint. “As evidenced by public records, Abdul El-Sayed, a terrorist sympathizer, has never been licensed to practice medicine in either Michigan or New York, yet many Michiganders could reasonably be left with the impression that he is a licensed physician,” said Greg Manz, a senior communications adviser for the Michigan Republican Party. “He is not.”
Mr. Manz added: “This is exactly the type of deceitful conduct that fuels public distrust. If Adbul El-Sayed is willing to blur the lines about something as fundamental as his professional credentials, voters have every right to ask what else they are being misled about.”
Mr. El-Sayed cracked a joke about the controversy at a recent debate with his fellow Democratic-primary contenders, saying he is a doctor “depending on who you ask.” That was inspired by a May Politico story, which brought the is-he-or-isn’t-he controversy to the national stage. His joke predated the complaint.
In the first chapter of his 2020 memoir, “Healing Politics,” Mr. El-Sayed explains why he pulled his residency application and transitioned into public health. He says, in a chapter titled “Not That Kind of Doctor,” that patient care wouldn’t let him fix systemic factors in health outcomes.
“Nearly four years as a graduate student had immersed me in the world of ideas,” he writes. “The transition back to the applied, tactile world of medical school would be jarring.”
It wasn’t long, he writes, before “doubts about my ultimate vocation” crept in. First Mr. El-Sayed wanted to be a surgeon. Then he wanted to be an internist. “The fact that [internal medicine] required fewer years as a resident than surgery was a good thing for me, too, since I was already getting antsy to get into the real world,” he says.
But after treating a concussed, alcoholic, diabetic, HIV-positive obese woman named Martha, he decided not to become a practicing doctor. “When I got home that evening, I pulled my residency application,” Mr. El-Sayed writes. “Practicing medicine wasn’t the path to solving the problems I cared about.”
Within Michigan, it’s been common knowledge since 2018 that Mr. El-Sayed is not a practicing doctor, after a Crain’s Detroit Business story unearthed his lack of credentials. At the time he was running in the Democratic primary for Michigan governor, which he lost to Gretchen Whitmer, who went on to win the general election.
Mallory McMorrow, a state senator and one of El-Sayed’s rivals in the Democrat primary, called the Politico report a “bombshell.”
McMorrow campaign spokeswoman Hannah Lindow said, “Abdul El-Sayed has made his supposed medical credentials a centerpiece of his campaign, but the truth is he never held a medical license, never did his residency, never passed the boards, and never practiced medicine independently.”
“If Michigan voters can’t trust El-Sayed to be honest about something that is so central to his entire rationale for running,” Ms. Lindow added, “how can they trust him to be honest about what he’d do as a United States Senator?”
Independent Michigan journalist Kayleigh Lickliter examined Mr. El-Sayed’s track record. She found he is a career nomad, not staying at either of his high-profile jobs for more than two years. He left his posts as Detroit health director and later as Wayne County health director to run for office.
“El-Sayed was appointed as Detroit’s health director, stayed for less than 2 years, then ran for governor,” Lickliter wrote on her Substack, Wayne County Watchdog. “He was later appointed as the county’s health director, stayed for less than 2 years, then launched his campaign for U.S. Senate.”
Mr. El-Sayed supports Medicare for All, earning the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders. At a campaign stop with controversial streamer Hasan Piker, the candidate equated Israel’s government with the terrorist group Hamas, saying both are “evil.”
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