Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is turning to former President Barack Obama for help, despite a record of harshly criticizing the former president. Obama is scheduled to campaign for El-Sayed at an October 24 rally.

The pairing offers an awkward political spectacle. El-Sayed previously portrayed Obama’s presidency as a profound disappointment, but now he is welcoming the former president’s support as his campaign seeks a boost.

Following the 2012 election, El-Sayed mocked the optimism that had surrounded Obama. He wrote that he voted for Obama with “the silly emotions of a naïve young man who didn't understand that hope and change required more than flowery prose and a winning smile.”

El-Sayed also said he realized he had “little hope because there has been less change.” That was hardly a glowing review of the man whose endorsement he is now promoting.

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“Obama's reelection last night was no victory,” El-Sayed said in 2012. “It was the rock we chose over the hard place...This leader has perpetuated war, violated our civil liberties, deported more people from our shores than any other president before him, and the list of his failures goes on.”

Those remarks were not his only criticism of Obama. El-Sayed criticized him repeatedly on several subjects and once argued that Americans were not better off after eight years of the Obama presidency.

Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota tried to dispute El-Sayed’s assessment by pointing to Obama administration achievements, but each accomplishment she cited has now been proven to be a failure.

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Now, however, El-Sayed appears eager to soften his old rhetoric while accepting Obama’s campaign assistance. NBC News Meet the Press host Kristen Welker confronted him with the obvious question during a Sunday interview and asked whether he still considered Obama a failure.

“I know President Obama was handed a pretty difficult set of circumstances and he did his best,” El-Sayed said. It was a notably restrained defense from a candidate now benefiting from Obama’s political support.

Saying Obama “did his best” hardly sounds like a ringing reconsideration of El-Sayed’s earlier attacks. Still, it gave him a way to retreat from his old criticism without offering an enthusiastic reversal.

Abdul El-Sayed compares Obama to his dad after getting called out for saying he was "not the right choice" for President.

NBC: Do you still see Obama’s presidency as a failure? EL-SAYED: “I think about my dad…There’s a lot of things about my dad I’d do differently.” https://t.co/k8avAsfqjp — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 11, 2026

Despite that history, Obama recorded an advertisement supporting El-Sayed. El-Sayed responded by saying Obama had shown him something in himself that he might never have seen otherwise and that he was humbled to receive the former president’s support.

El-Sayed also credited the Affordable Care Act with laying the groundwork for guaranteed health care. He said he was honored to pick up Obama’s baton and finally pass Medicare for All.

In the advertisement, Obama argued that the principle that the country belongs to everyone was “under attack” in Michigan. He said it did not belong only to the “wealthy” or the “well-connected,” presenting that argument as a reason to support El-Sayed.

The pitch comes with some rich political irony. El-Sayed has connections to prominent figures such as Obama and the Soros family, and the source says he has received substantial financial support from billionaires.

Obama also referred to El-Sayed as a “doctor” and used an image showing him in a doctor’s white coat. El-Sayed holds an M.D., but he reportedly has never been licensed or practiced as a physician after medical school.

President @BarackObama showed me something in myself I might never have seen without him. I’m humbled to have his support in this fight. The Affordable Care Act will have laid the groundwork for guaranteed healthcare, and I'm honored to pick up his baton and finally pass Medicare for All.

— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) October 12, 2026

The endorsement itself came across as generic and lacking excitement, particularly given El-Sayed’s past description of Obama’s record. According to the source, some Democrats also noticed the less than electrifying nature of the advertisement.

For El-Sayed, the episode leaves a glaring contradiction at the center of the campaign moment. The former president he once blamed for a long list of failures is now being asked to help carry him toward the Senate.

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