The Bulwark is rooting for its man in Michigan, Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. They have good news for others who are "conserving conservatism" like themselves. They've conducted some focus groups and found that Trump voters are really connecting with El-Sayed.
NEW: Michigan focus groups we conducted show Abdul E-Sayed is over-performing with Trump voters. Here's what they tell us
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 29, 2026
via @SarahLongwell25 https://t.co/2pISJGgRl5
OK, so The Bulwark isn't only claiming that El-Sayed is overperforming with Trump voters; it's also going to explain why. We should probably note first that Longwell says she conducted a focus group with "2024 Trump voters who disapprove of Trump’s job performance." Fair enough. Sarah Longwell reports for The Bulwark:
What does Abdul El-Sayed have in common with Marjorie Taylor Greene?
El-Sayed doesn’t think there’s much. In a July interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns, he mostly rejected the comparison, which Burns made based on the fact that both politicians condemned AIPAC, opposed all aid to Israel, and called for lower health insurance costs.
“When you ask me about why establishment, elite Democrats are so worried about me,” El-Sayed said, “it’s because there are a lot of people who listen to [MTG] who are going to vote for me in the general election.”
But while El-Sayed may not like being talked about in the same breath as MTG, others see some common threads. After El-Sayed won his primary, Tucker Carlson called his campaign “literally Trumpian” (as a compliment), and said that El-Sayed’s opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, was “unfit to serve.”
Ah, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene. How many people were in this focus group again?
Doubt https://t.co/4SDeFIUK1P
— Matt DeLuca (@MattDeLuca) September 29, 2026
I’ve gone to Michigan this cycle, talked to tons of voters in the wild, I didn’t meet one Trump voter supporting El-Sayed. I struggle to even imagine such a person. https://t.co/8eA00Hjdke
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) September 29, 2026
No, we totally need to defer to Sam Stein on this
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 29, 2026
Same exact 2 peoplehttps://t.co/MXoCuvtJN4
— snowblinder76 (@snowblinder76) September 29, 2026
By "Trump voters," they mean people who were nominally Republican around 2002 but have voted solely for Democrats ever since.
— Keith Maniac, from Guatemala (@from_maniac) September 29, 2026
I'm not in Michigan, but there is no way. And it is not because we're all racists, that guy is just an arse. Arrogant, short man syndrome, disingenuous and absolutely horrific on policy.
— Larry LaBate (@xmethuselahx) September 29, 2026
Stein's post via Sarah Longwell. Not to be believed.
— Gerry Moore (@Gerryinpa) September 29, 2026
Well it is the Bulwark.
— Bill Rodgers (@brodgers01) September 29, 2026
If they put "never" in front of Trump voters then I might begin to take it seriously.
But to say true Trump voters are swinging towards El-Sayed is false advertising
Not going to discount this is all a psyop to depress voter turnout.
— Ken Mathias (@KenMathias6) September 29, 2026
It’s all just trying to discourage republicans from voting it’s pathetic
— CM (@seattleiscrazy) September 29, 2026
Doubt. Frankly, anything from The Bulwark is questionable. Sarah Longwell has provided some of the worst election analysis of anyone.
— Not Jane Austen (@atwaSDOK) September 29, 2026
Thank you for putting what you discovered behind a paywall. We really appreciate your service
— LeeRoy_TN (@LeeRoy_TN) September 29, 2026
Utter bullshit from the left.
— Jack Doran Jr.🇺🇸 (@jackdoranjr) September 29, 2026
Must be Tuesday.
Possible. But did it also occur to you the voters in your focus group are a tiny subset that are so upset they are motivated to talk to you and they are not reflective of the overall electorate? No, no, could not be that.
— Gabriel Iacoboni (@GabrielIacoboni) September 29, 2026
The details are behind a paywall, so we don't know exactly how many 2024 Trump voters who disapprove of the president's performance The Bulwark managed to gather into a focus group. "Are you an independent or Democrat who voted for Trump because Kamala Harris and the Biden administration were such a train wreck? Would you like to take part in a focus group for The Bulwark?"
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