Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed is making President Trump an offer he hopes the commander-in-chief can’t refuse — put his name on the sweeping government health care plan meant to cover all Americans.
“Donald, if you’re watching, we can put your name on it,” the Michigan Democrat said Tuesday during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins.
“I know you like to put your name on stuff. You can finally meet the unmet promise in America to guarantee everybody health care. So it’s on the table if you want to do it.”
Collins asked El-Sayed whether he was serious about offering Trump the naming rights to the signature progressive policy proposal known as “Medicare for All.”
“I’m absolutely serious,” he replied.
“I don’t care what it’s called. I want people to have health care in this country.”
The incoming senator, who made Medicare for All a centerpiece of his campaign, said he would accept the president’s branding in exchange for a system guaranteeing Americans coverage from cradle to grave — without copays, premiums, or deductibles.
El-Sayed made a similar pitch last week during an interview with Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, saying he would be willing to call the proposal “Trumpcare for All” if it meant getting the legislation signed into law.
“I think that would be a win,” El-Sayed said. “So if he wants to call it Trumpcare, I’m game.”
The Democrat’s offer comes despite Trump’s long-running opposition to the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, which he has repeatedly sought to repeal.
Trump came close to fulfilling that campaign promise in 2017, when Senate Republicans tried to dismantle key parts of the law. The effort ultimately failed after the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined two other Republicans in voting against a so-called “skinny repeal” measure in a dramatic 49-51 vote.
Trump has since floated replacing Obamacare with a different health care system, but has not laid out a detailed plan.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, campaigned on expanding government-funded health care and defeating what he has described as the country’s medical debt crisis.
He said on CNN that making universal coverage a reality would be a top priority during his six-year Senate term, arguing that Democrats’ midterm victories gave them a mandate to pursue an ambitious legislative agenda.
“I’ve been working on this question for my entire career,” he said.
“I bet if the president came out and said, ‘You know, I’m gonna sign this if you call it Trumpcare for All,’ I think we might be able to do it,” he said.
“What better way to answer the mandate that the American public gave Democrats but to say, ‘Hey, look, we can finally, once and for all, solve the challenge of American health care in this country’?”
