Former President Barack Obama is preparing to campaign in Michigan for Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who is locked in a tight contest with Republican Mike Rogers. The planned rescue comes with some deeply awkward baggage.

CNN’s KFile reviewed footage and interviews showing that El-Sayed spent years condemning Obama’s presidency as a failure. He also argued that the country was no better off after Obama’s eight years in the White House.

El-Sayed delivered one of his sharpest indictments in a 2012 HuffPost essay published shortly after Obama’s reelection. He wrote that “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.”

Despite that scathing judgment, El-Sayed acknowledged that he still voted for Obama. Party loyalty apparently survived the verbal demolition job, even as El-Sayed tore into the lofty image surrounding the Obama presidency.

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He dismissed hope and change as “flowery prose and a winning smile” and called Obama’s reelection “no victory” and “the rock we chose over the hard place.” He also branded the Affordable Care Act a “watered-down reform that kowtows to the interests of healthcare lobbies.”

Those criticisms did not disappear with time. During a January 2020 University of Chicago panel, El-Sayed warned Democrats against repeating “the same mistakes of the past eight years under Barack Obama.”

“We are not, as a country, better off eight years after Obama was elected in 2008 than we were when he was elected," El-Sayed told the panelists. "And I say this as somebody who loves him deeply.”

El-Sayed also argued that Obama bore significant responsibility for the rise of Donald Trump. He said Obama had failed to change economic and healthcare systems that left Americans feeling insecure, helping create the conditions for Trump.

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“I appreciate the fact that we don’t give him credit for what he did for the economy in the short term. But the structure of the economy did not change under Barack Obama.”

“The solutions to actually thinking about making sure that our healthcare system was equitable and sustainable, that did not change under Barack Obama," he said.

“And unless we’re willing to admit that, then we’re at risk of going right back to the edge of the cliff we fell off in 2016.”

WATCH:

El-Sayed responded to the KFile report with a considerably warmer reassessment of the former president. With Obama now preparing to help his campaign, the old criticism gave way to praise for Obama’s influence and leadership.

“At 24, I watched President Obama win in 2008. He changed what was possible for someone like me, with a name like mine," the campaign said in a statement.

“Despite being dealt one of the toughest hands of any American president — he handled it.”

“And despite all he did, there remains so much left to do. That’s where the next generation, inspired by him and his leadership, picks up," it reads.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants — and I can’t wait to tell him myself later this month.”

CNN: Abdul El-Sayed spent years trashing Obama before asking him to campaign for him.

Abdul in 2012: "This leader has perpetrated 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." https://t.co/O9rnZkOzgq — Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) October 8, 2026

Obama’s appearance comes as mainstream polls suggest El-Sayed is performing well against Rogers, although the campaign appears to have concerns. Nick Arama pointed to the former president’s scheduled appearance as a possible sign of trouble beneath the public polling.

“I'm thinking those internal polls must not be looking great for Michigan's Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate," Arama wrote.

A recent MS NOW focus group also showed dissatisfaction among black Michigan voters. Participants said El-Sayed was taking their support for granted because they were Democrats, while one woman said she planned to mark uncommitted instead of voting for him.

Another participant said El-Sayed had missed opportunities to explain himself to black voters. “If you're going to Congress to represent me, I need you to talk about what's going on in this community," one individual said.

Black Michiganders feel abandoned by Abdul El-Sayed:

“He’s taking advantage that we, as black people, are Democratic - and he thinks we’re gonna vote for him anyway, and I’m like, NO!” https://t.co/IZ9zwkZKfb — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 6, 2026

Obama will now campaign for the same man who repeatedly called his presidency a failure and linked his record to Trump’s rise. The smiles and handshakes may look convincing, but El-Sayed’s own words will remain an impossible backdrop to ignore.

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