After Democrats’ sweeping midterm victory, Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed told MS NOW he was prepared to work with President Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington on issues that matter to voters, urging his party to focus on governing instead of seeking revenge against the president.

“I think people see our politics as this game where you get retribution on the other side. It’s not about retribution. It should never be about retribution,” El-Sayed told MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday. “It’s about enforcing the rule of law and, most importantly, delivering for the American public.”

He also suggested Democrats’ major victories across the country on Tuesday showed that Trump could be challenged. “I think people have always seen Donald Trump as this big monster that’s unbeatable,” he said. “It turns out you just stand up to him, and he can read the tea leaves.”

El-Sayed’s comments came after Trump told The New York Times he was willing to “work with Democrats” as they prepare to take control of both chambers of Congress in January.

“If [Trump’s] interested in getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets and passing Medicare for all, that’s what I ran to do, and I’m looking forward to working with anyone who is willing to do that,” El-Sayed said.

Even with Democrats set to take control of Congress, El-Sayed said the president still had “substantial power.”

“He is the president of the United States,” he said. “I’m going to be one United States senator, and if he’s interested in working on issues that I want to work on — getting more people healthcare, ending the Medicare cuts, ending the stupid war, stopping these stupid tariffs with Canada — then let’s talk about doing that and go and deliver for the public.”

El-Sayed said his willingness to work across party lines extends to his future Republican colleagues, including those who attacked him during the campaign, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who called him a “jihadist leprechaun” and sought to tie him to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Ted Cruz said some awful things. I will sit down with Ted Cruz, and if he’s got a bill that makes sense to get money out of politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for all, I’ll work with him on it. So long as he’s willing to do it in good faith,” El-Sayed said.

But the future senator said he saw conversations with the public as more consequential than private negotiations in the Senate. “The more powerful conversation I can have isn’t just with another senator in a cloakroom. It’s with the public, so that public is having a conversation with their senator,” he told MS NOW.

El-Sayed said Democrats would need to keep making their case to voters as they work to turn campaign promises into legislation.

“And I think sometimes we think about campaign mode versus governing mode, and part of the problem as Democrats is that we’re not very good at going out there and showing our work. In politics, you have to show your work. It’s not just enough to be like, ‘Trust me on the solution.’ It’s saying, ‘Hey, here’s why, here’s what.’”

“We’re going to keep campaigning on the issues we want to push, and then get back to the cloakroom between Monday and Thursday, and figure out how to hammer that into legislation,” El-Sayed added.

You can watch El-Sayed’s full appearance on “Morning Joe” in the clip at the top of the page.

The post ‘He can read the tea leaves’: El-Sayed says he’s ready to work with Trump appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.