Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said in a new interview with Chuck Todd on Noosphere that he would appear on Bill Maher’s show, despite what he described as “terrible things” Maher has said about “people like me.”
El-Sayed told Todd he was surprised other guests still agree to appear with Maher “despite him saying deeply terrible things.” He did not specify what those remarks were, and Todd did not ask him to elaborate.
“I wanna give people the image of watching him get his ass whooped on his own show by a guy who prays like I do,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed said he wanted to show viewers of Maher’s program that many of the host’s positions are “just not viable.”
Maher responded on his own show, rejecting the framing that his criticism was aimed at “people like” El-Sayed. “It’s not ‘people like you,'” Maher said, adding that when he discusses Islam, his criticism is about ideas rather than personal identity or race. “I have different views on how women should be treated,” Maher said, while adding that he hoped the two could have a substantive discussion if El-Sayed appeared.
Maher indicated he would be willing to have El-Sayed on the show. Maher has also been publicly critical of the party’s left flank, including democratic socialists, and has at times credited President Donald Trump for policy outcomes he views favorably, such as reductions in crime.
El-Sayed’s remarks come after a University of Michigan town hall event in which a student pressed him to condemn the Iranian regime, a question he did not directly answer.
It remains unclear whether or when El-Sayed will appear on Maher’s program.
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