In short:
Less than 60 seconds after walking onto the rally stage at a Detroit high school, the Democratic Senate candidate abandoned his suit jacket.
asserted
candidate → walk → jacket
Even former President Barack Obama, who joined the 41-year-old onstage, seemed in awe.
asserted
who → join → awe
El-Sayed leads in recent polls, but only within the margin of error, and in Detroit, where he won just 31 per cent of Black primary voters.
asserted
he → lead → voters
Abdul El-Sayed's biceps can't seem to be contained.
asserted
biceps → seem → ?
Less than 60 seconds after walking onto the rally stage at a Detroit high school, the Democratic Senate candidate abandoned his suit jacket with its screaming buttons to an eruption of applause.
asserted
candidate → walk → applause
Donald Trump may be obsessed with a Republican senator's body in neighbouring Ohio, but the rest of the internet has been distracted by El-Sayed's.
uncertain
rest → obsess → Sayed
Even "serious" news outlets, like Axios and The Guardian, have reported that El-Sayed is part of the Democrats' midterm strategy of "bringing sexy back".
asserted
Sayed → report → sexy
The right is not immune either; Fox's Ainsley Earhardt did a segment under the banner "Democrats Enter Their Thirst Trap Era".
asserted
Democrats → do → Era
Even former president Barack Obama, who joined the 41-year-old onstage in Detroit, seemed to be in awe.
asserted
who → join → awe
"I mean he's just jacked!
asserted
he → mean → ?
That's why he wears those T-shirts.
asserted
he → wear → shirts
I never campaigned in a T-shirt.
asserted
I → campaign → shirt
I didn't have those big guns," he joked.
asserted
he → have → guns
But the former president has plenty in common with the buff young doctor.
asserted
president → have → doctor
Both have built campaigns on the promise of change and breaking boundaries — the first black president and the man who could become the first Muslim senator.
uncertain
who → build → boundaries
Both men have also faced racism, dog whistles about their loyalty to America and questions about their names — Donald Trump calling El-Sayed by his middle name "Mohamed" in the same way he can't talk about Obama without mentioning his middle name "Hussein".
asserted
he → face → name
In 2008, just a month before the presidential election, Republican candidate John McCain defended Barack Obama after a constituent said she couldn't trust the man, who she called "an Arab".
asserted
she → defend → who
"No ma'am, he's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about," McCain said to applause.
asserted
McCain → happen → applause
Eighteen years later, including two Trump presidencies, the politics of civility have all but disappeared.
asserted
politics → include → civility
Trump has repeatedly called El-Sayed a jihadist.
asserted
Trump → call → Sayed
El-Sayed's Republican opponent Mike Rogers has repeatedly tried to link him to terrorist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood — claims he rejects.
uncertain
he → try → Brotherhood
A week ago, his response to a question about the issue from a heckler who turned out to be a former Republican staffer called "Tommy" went viral.
asserted
who → turn → heckler
After asking whether El-Sayed would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, the Senate candidate answered "sure, yeah, absolutely" before asking whether the man assumed he wouldn't and comparing it to the doubts once raised about John F Kennedy's Catholicism.
asserted
he → ask → Catholicism
Supporters cheered.
asserted
Supporters → cheer → ?
Detractors called it a "word salad".
asserted
Detractors → call → it
Either way, it was another week talking about his faith, not his policies.
asserted
it → talk → faith
El-Sayed has run on three main areas he has recited so often that the rally crowd in Detroit effortlessly performed a call and response.
asserted
crowd → run → call
"Money out of …" called Abdul.
asserted
Abdul → call → Money
"POLITICS!" the crowd responded.
asserted
crowd → respond → POLITICS
He is part of the party's progressive wing, meaning his race in Michigan might be pivotal not only in Democrats' efforts to take control of the Senate but also in determining the future of the party.
uncertain
race → mean → party
It will test whether the insurgent left can win in a purple state.
asserted
left → test → state
It also means he has not always been a fan of Mr Obama, who many on the party's left saw as too moderate, too tough on border control, not tough enough on banks over their role in the Global Financial Crisis.
asserted
many → mean → Crisis
In 2012, El-Sayed put those thoughts to paper, in an op-ed criticising the man now stumping for him in Detroit.
asserted
Sayed → put → Detroit
"This leader has perpetuated war, violated our civil liberties, deported more people from our shores than any other president before him, and the list of his failures goes on," he wrote.
asserted
he → perpetuate → failures
El-Sayed has since walked those comments back and on the rally stage was effusive about the inspiration Obama had been in his own political career.
asserted
Obama → walk → career
"He showed us all what elegance and grace and determination look like in a politician, and he showed me something in myself that apparently I never forgot," he said.
asserted
he → show → that
When it was his turn to speak, Obama addressed El-Sayed's previous criticisms head-on.
asserted
Obama → speak → criticisms
"So Abdul didn't agree with some things our administration was doing while I was president.
asserted
I → agree → things
You know who else doesn't agree with everything I do?
asserted
I → know → everything
," he joked.
asserted
he → joke → ?
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
