El-Sayed was joined by Will Lawrence, the Democratic candidate for Michigan's 7th Congressional District. The aspiring senator was welcomed with an uproar of cheers and shouts before beginning the event with a moment of silence to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Yesterday, El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, attacked El-Sayed’s allyship with leftist commentator Hasan Piker at the Republican National Convention, saying they both “excuse extremism.” 

In April, El-Sayed and Piker visited MSU during a campaign tour amid widespread scrutiny over Piker’s past remarks that America “deserved” the Sept. 11 attacks. El-Sayed has since distanced himself from the streamer. 

At the rally on Friday, El-Sayed criticized Rogers for voting against healthcare legislation that would assist individuals impacted by Sept. 11. 

“We will not rest until we have cradle to grave coverage and zero out-of-pocket costs for every single citizen,” El-Sayed said.

Upon being asked by a student from the Upper Peninsula about the closure of rural hospitals due to a lack of federal funding, El-Sayed doubled down on his promise to obtain Medicare for all. The senate hopeful said he would roll back Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts made by the Trump administration on top of negotiating prescription drug prices.   

“Your body commands the same reimbursement as everyone else,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed reiterated his criticisms toward large corporations disrupting everyday life, referencing tech companies wanting to “build a data center in your backyard.” 

“When a few corporations dominate the creation of a technology with this much capacity, moving this fast, that is extremely risky,” El-Sayed said. 

Due to their prevalence, El-Sayed believes tech companies need a greater level of government oversight and regulation. El-Sayed said he would advocate for large corporations to be rebuilt as “public interest corporations” in order to protect jobs for individuals entering the workforce. 

“(Congress) is trying to make (AI) ungovernable,” El-Sayed said. “We’ve got to act quickly before it becomes a government.”

To an audience that largely consisted of student renters, El-Sayed advocated for greater landlord accountability and the establishment of tenants unions to benefit temporary housing owners. He also stressed the need for less expensive housing to ensure that individuals in the crowd “have the ability to imagine that (they) could own a home.” 

“This big technification of the housing space needs to be addressed,” El-Sayed said. “Corporations owe it to put some of their profits back into the system to make sure that there's affordable housing for everyone.”