On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed argued that his proposed federal payments, such as exploring slavery reparations, are different from the $5,000 dividend check proposal he characterized as a “bribe” because he wants “to govern for the issues that people are facing, rather than buy people off because they voted for us.”
El-Sayed began by stating that he is for “guaranteeing you things like healthcare into the future, not just a one-time $5,000 bribe, because it sounds like the only possible way to rescue your failing numbers because of the stupid tariff war that you started and the war in Iran you can’t seem to get out of.”
Host Kaitlan Collins then asked, “Some people might hear you say, this sounds like a bribe, and see that you’ve championed other kinds of federal payments, subsidizing childcare in that form, potentially reparations. Why is this different?”
El-Sayed answered, “This is about if we win, was exactly what he said, he said if Republicans win both houses, then he’ll, without an act of Congress, give every adult $5,000. It is a quid pro quo. I’m talking about policy that actually addresses the affordability crisis in this country. It’s about actually building a livable America where people aren’t worried about how they’re going to be able to afford their gas, their groceries, or the ability to see a doctor, the fact that people should be able to have kids without having to worry about one of two of the parents having to leave the workforce, usually women, and the kind of America where you know you get good schools. The difference is that we want to govern for the issues that people are facing, rather than buy people off because they voted for us.”
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