{"id":332533,"date":"2026-05-14T13:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/dem-senate-hopefuls-physician-campaign-pitch-under-fire-after-license-records-reveal-key-gaps.html"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:29:29","slug":"dem-senate-hopefuls-physician-campaign-pitch-under-fire-after-license-records-reveal-key-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/dem-senate-hopefuls-physician-campaign-pitch-under-fire-after-license-records-reveal-key-gaps.html","title":{"rendered":"Dem Senate hopeful\u2019s \u2018physician\u2019 campaign pitch under fire after license records reveal key gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">     <span class=\"overlay\" data-v-324c3b57=\"\">Video<\/span><\/a> <!--&gt; \n\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-324c3b57=\"\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigns with Bernie Sanders, pushes to defund police, abolish ICE<\/a><\/h4>\n\n \n\n<p data-v-324c3b57=\"\">'The Big Weekend Show' panel discusses Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's alliances with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Hasan Piker.<\/p>\n\n \n\n<p class=\"speakable\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Michigan<\/a> Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly described himself as a \"physician\" on the campaign trail and in public biographies, despite records showing he has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"speakable\">Much of El-Sayed\u2019s campaign has focused on his medical credentials, particularly his purported experience as a physician. While El-Sayed does have a medical degree, public records in New York and Michigan <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><u>examined<\/u><\/a> by Politico indicate that he\u2019s never held a license to practice medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New York state law prohibits individuals who lack medical licenses from identifying themselves as \"physicians,\" a title El-Sayed claimed on at least two occasions while in the state. Michigan law also bars individuals from working \"to induce the belief\" that they are licensed to practice medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El-Sayed\u2019s hands-on medical experience was limited to a four-week clinical rotation he completed after finishing medical school. In a 2022 podcast, he described the experience as \"cosplaying [as] a doctor,\" Politico reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CLAIMS ISRAEL 'JUST AS EVIL' AS HAMAS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stands with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed after speaking at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Mich.<\/span> <span>(Sarah Rice\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"The perception in Michigan is that he is, at least at one point in his life, a licensed physician,\" Chris Dewitt, a Michigan Democratic strategist, told Politico. \"That apparently is not the case, and it blows up a big part of his campaign.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El-Sayed has repeatedly told the public that he is a physician.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a debate held by the Council of Baptist Pastors in April, for instance, El-Sayed referred to himself as \"a physician and epidemiologist.\" When Sen. <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Bernie Sanders<\/a>,\u00a0 I-Vt., referred to El-Sayed as a \"physician\" in 2025, he did not correct the senator. In June, the Senate candidate included a picture of himself dressed in a doctor\u2019s coat attached to a fundraising appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Rather than this being a gotcha attack, this is Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s origin story \u2014 one that Michiganders are familiar with,\" El-Sayed spokesperson Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital when asked about his medical credentials.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Dr. El-Sayed has spoken extensively about his experiences in medical school that led him first to <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">public health<\/a> and then to public service,\" Richner continued. \"He has spent his career improving healthcare for Michiganders through innovative, sweeping public health programs, including the elimination of up to $700 million in medical debt, increased access to Narcan, and built a state-of-the-art air quality monitoring network.\"<\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and has embraced comparisons to Zohran Mamdani.<\/span> <span>(Photo by Bill Pugliano\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGNS WITH CONTROVERSIAL MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Thursday, El-Sayed still <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><u>refers to himself<\/u><\/a> in his LinkedIn bio as a \"physician and epidemiologist.\" He also holds a PhD in public health from the University of Oxford, according to his biographies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"It\u2019s a weird thing to hang your hat on in terms of a biographical detail if you never actually practiced medicine,\" Michigan Democratic consultant Adrian Hemond told Politico. \"It\u2019s not as though he hasn\u2019t done anything with all of the fancy education that he got like running public health programming for Wayne County and for the city of Detroit. And so maybe you would lean into that, as opposed to giving people the impression that you may have practiced medicine before.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>SANDERS-ENDORSED SENATE CANDIDATE KNOCKED FOR ALLEGED FLIP-FLOP TO 'HAVE IT BOTH WAYS' ON KEY ISSUE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/span> <span>(Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El-Sayed\u2019s Democratic primary rivals have also seized on the scrutiny. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow\u2019s campaign, which is competing against El-Sayed for the Democratic nomination, accused him of overstating the medical credentials he has made central to his Senate bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"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 his boards, and never practiced medicine independently,\" campaign spokesperson Jackson Boaz told Fox News Digital. \"If Michigan voters can't trust El-Sayed to be honest about something that is so central to his entire rationale for running, how can they trust him to be honest about what he'd do as a United States Senator?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time El-Sayed\u2019s medical experience has been <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">called into question<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>INTERNET ERUPTS OVER 'DISQUALIFYING' LEAKED AUDIO FROM DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE RACE DISCUSSING KHAMENEI'S DEATH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Sen. Bernie Sanders participates in a coronavirus public health roundtable with Dr. Alison Galvani and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit, Mich., on March 9, 2020, ahead of the state's primary election.<\/span> <span>(Scott Olson\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crain\u2019s Detroit Business <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><u>published<\/u><\/a> a piece in 2018 holding El-Sayed\u2019s claim of being a physician against his lack of a medical license.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"I think there\u2019s a lot of ways that one serves as a physician. And I think the work that I have done and I continue to do is true to the core and the ethos of medicine,\" El-Sayed told Crain\u2019s Detroit Business at the time. \"And when I took my Hippocratic Oath, that is still an oath that I use to guide my work today. I\u2019m a physician because I have an MD, but I\u2019m also a physician because of the work that I\u2019ve dedicated my career to.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El-Sayed has stated that he chose politics over medicine because he believes poverty is the root cause of many of the health problems in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Critics of El-Sayed have seized<\/a> on the recent reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Michigan\u2019s Democrat Senate primary is such a mess that the guy cosplaying as an Egyptian citizen and licensed physician is still beating <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Chuck Schumer<\/a>\u2019s handpicked candidate,\" NRSC Regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell told the Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n\n --> <!--&gt; --><\/p>\n<p>Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dem-senate-hopefuls-physician-campaign-pitch-under-fire-after-license-records-reveal-key-gaps<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dem-senate-hopefuls-physician-campaign-pitch-under-fire-after-license-records-reveal-key-gaps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-332533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}