AOC transfers $1 million to El-Sayed's Michigan Senate campaign

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] To politics now. New York Congresswoman

[0:03] Alexandria Okasio Cortez is putting her

[0:06] money where her mouth is. She's not only

[0:08] hitting the campaign trail for Michigan

[0:10] Senate candidate Abdul Elsayed. She's

[0:12] also shelling out $1 million for his

[0:15] campaign. This latest push as lawmakers

[0:18] across the aisle fight to hang on to

[0:19] power. Elsa holds a narrow lead over his

[0:23] Republican opponent Mike Rogers. CBS

[0:25] News political reporter Zack Hudach

[0:27] joins me now. Zach, we're in the final

[0:29] stretch finally, right? Where do things

[0:31] stand in Michigan,

[0:34] >> Liz? I would say that Abdul Seed has a

[0:37] very slight edge at this moment uh over

[0:40] Mike Rogers in Michigan. There was a

[0:43] recent CBS Detroit poll that found uh

[0:46] about a fivepoint edge for the Democrat.

[0:49] However, Michigan is a state with a lot

[0:51] of undecided voters and it is a very

[0:54] swingy state. There is still a lot of

[0:55] time to change and a lot of money that's

[0:57] being poured into this state. It's a

[0:59] state that there hasn't been a

[1:01] Republican senator from for over 20

[1:04] years at this point. So, it began as

[1:06] something that Republicans saw as a

[1:08] major pickup opportunity. Now, as the

[1:10] president's approval rating has tanked

[1:12] in the state, that's changed the

[1:14] calculation a bit and actually moved

[1:16] Republicans much more so back on defense

[1:18] in a state that President Trump won both

[1:21] in 2024 and back in 2016. So, a lot has

[1:25] changed as this election's gone on, but

[1:27] I think as we enter this final push, we

[1:30] we enter it with Elce having slightly

[1:32] more momentum, but as I said, a lot

[1:35] could change, particularly as both

[1:38] candidates are going up majorly on the

[1:40] airwaves uh in this final push, trying

[1:42] to get folks in their party to turn out

[1:45] in large as large as possible numbers,

[1:48] which may be the factor that really

[1:49] decides things in the end in Michigan.

[1:51] >> Yeah. And Zach, you know, it's worth

[1:52] noting as you alluded to, Elsa not the

[1:54] only one with a high-profile politician

[1:56] throwing their weight behind him. JD

[1:59] Vance, the vice president, has been

[2:00] showing up for Mike Rogers even going as

[2:03] far as to trade blows with Elsad. What

[2:06] happened there?

[2:08] >> Well, I I think that part of the reason

[2:10] that you see uh the vice president in

[2:12] the state is because typically Donald

[2:15] Trump would be the best turnout

[2:16] motivator that Republicans would have

[2:18] since he's become so unpopular in the

[2:20] state. they're trying to send

[2:22] effectively his deputy there to do so.

[2:25] There's also sometimes a strategy you

[2:27] see in these late stages where you have

[2:28] your surrogates do your dirtiest attacks

[2:31] so that you don't have to face the

[2:32] repercussions. I think that's what we

[2:34] saw play out uh just yesterday. Take a

[2:36] listen to what the two of them had to

[2:38] say.

[2:39] >> You deserve better than a little weasel

[2:42] who should shut his mouth and show a

[2:44] little gratitude to the country that

[2:45] gave him everything.

[2:46] >> You know, it's funny. He called me uh JD

[2:48] Vance called me a little weasel today.

[2:49] I'm like, "No, no, no. What you're

[2:52] talking about is a Wolverine."

[2:56] >> So, you can see, Liz, how when you make

[2:58] a sort of dirty below the belt attack,

[3:01] call your candidate name like that. It's

[3:03] kind of like a box boxing match. As you

[3:05] throw that hook, you are revealing your

[3:07] cheek yourself. I think by having uh JD

[3:10] Vance do that, the result is that it's a

[3:12] little less damaging for uh Mike Rogers.

[3:15] But at the end of the day, I think those

[3:17] attacks usually aren't helpful for the

[3:19] candidate. And I think if anything, uh

[3:20] the Rogers campaign is probably wishing

[3:22] the vice president had uh you know, bit

[3:25] his tongue on that particular uh remark.

[3:28] >> Zack Hudac, thank you so much for that

[3:30] update.