WASHINGTON — Republican Senate hopeful Mike Rogers slammed his Democratic foe Abdul El-Sayed as a “con man” for describing himself as a doctor — despite not having a medical license.
Rogers accused El-Sayed, who calls himself a “doctor,” of leaving voters with the impression that he practiced medicine despite never doing so outside of an internship.
“Well, he’s not really a doctor. He says he’s a physician,” Rogers scoffed. “[As a] matter of fact, if somebody came into his office and he tried to treat that patient, he’d go to jail.”
“Listen to this guy and what he’s trying to sell here today,” the GOP contender went on. “You’re going to find out that this guy is not what he says he is. He is actually selling the best con I think I’ve ever seen.”
El-Sayed pointed out, as he has in the past, that he obtained a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The former public health official also attended the University of Michigan Medical School.
The only evidence that he had hands-on experience treating patients was a four-week internship stint he did at a hospital in Manhattan, according to Politico.
Still, El-Sayed introduced himself as a doctor while making his pitch to voters at the debate.
“Look, I’m a doctor and I’m a dad,” El-Sayed said. “And as a dad, I know how much it costs me to fill up my gas tank. It is insane.”
The Michigan Democrat has often leaned on his medical training when opining on health care policy. He previously served as a professor of epidemiology at Columbia, executive director of the Detroit Health Department and director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services.
Controversy over his doctor claims emerged during his primary contest. El-Sayed currently lists himself as a “physician” and an “epidemiologist” on his LinkedIn profile. It’s unclear why he believes he can call himself a physician despite lacking a medical license.
In one of his podcast episodes, he told listeners, “I’ve been a doctor my whole career,” and at one point this year, he told a handful of nurses had “been in enough codes to watch who really does the work.”
El-Sayed has repeatedly glossed over criticisms that he is embellishing his medical bona fides.
“Look, I have a medical degree from Columbia University,” El-Sayed said during the debate. “He can take it up with them. But it’s not really about me. It’s about whether or not you can see your doctor. It’s about whether or not you trust your next US senator to stand up to Trump and Trumpism.”
A central part of El-Sayed’s pitch to voters is his championing of a “Medicare for All” single-payer system. Throughout his campaign, El-Sayed has leaned on his medical degree to give credence to that proposal. Rogers blasted it as expensive and a means of taking away Michiganders’ private insurance — something El-Sayed denied.
Thursday marked the first time Rogers and El-Sayed squared off on the debate stage. The verbal bout quickly devolved into mudslinging, with the two men trying to weave as many insults as possible into their answers to the moderator’s questions.
Polls have regularly pegged the Michigan Senate race as a jumpball contest with El-Sayed notching a 3.2 percentage point edge over Rogers, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
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