Socialist-backed Michigan Senate hopeful calls American politics a 'disease' after professing love for US

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday described America's political system as a "disease" moments after professing his love for the country where he was raised.

He spoke at the event alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as the trio criticized President Donald Trump, party leaders, corporations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Egyptian American physician and former public health official first reflected on the opportunities he said America had afforded him, noting he received an "incredible" public university education and a medical education funded through the National Institutes of Health.

"No, don't get it twisted. I love America. I know exactly what America gave to me. I know what my life would have been, but for America," El-Sayed said. "I know what America can do, and at the same time, it's impossible not to reflect on the worst moments of those 250 years as well."

He then argued that Trump was merely a symptom of broader problems in American politics. 

"Donald Trump is not, himself, the disease of our politics. He's just the worst symptom of the disease of our politics," El-Sayed said. 

"The disease? It's the system that allows corporations and billionaires and special interests like AIPAC to buy and sell politicians to rig the system against us." 

Ocasio-Cortez also echoed that message moments prior, telling the crowd, "You deserve a politics that treats the disease and not the symptoms."

"Medical debt shouldn't exist," he said, claiming the country's roughly $225 billion in medical debt could be erased for about $2.25 billion because it can be purchased "for a penny on the dollar."

He later turned his attention to ICE, calling it a "rogue agency" that should not exist. 

The Senate hopeful also described himself as "dangerous" to a range of political and corporate interests, including health insurers and Democratic leaders.

"If you're Blue Cross Blue Shield, I'm dangerous," he said. "If you're Chuck Schumer, trading politicians like trading cards, I'm dangerous."