Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed was questioned by host Mehdi Hasan about his repeated use of the term "physician" despite not holding a valid state medical license in Michigan or New York.

Hasan, in a Zeteo interview, raised the issue, noting that El-Sayed's primary rivals had attacked him for the self-designation. "Do you wish you’d just stuck to calling yourself a doctor, which you are, to avoid all of this controversy and attacks on your physician status?" Hasan asked.

El-Sayed responded by shifting the focus to his public service record. "At the end of the day, it’s not about whether or not I’m a physician or a doctor. It’s not about my education. It’s about whether or not your kid gets a good education," he said, before defending his work as the health director for the city of Detroit. "I would say that I was the health director for the city of Detroit, and I’ve done more to provide more people healthcare or eliminate their medical debt than most doctors have done in their practice career."

When pressed further by Hasan about whether he had told the truth, El-Sayed pointed to his education at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. "I took my medical education in a different direction," he stated. "And I did graduate from a school that’s literally called Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons."

Records indicate El-Sayed has described himself as a "physician" on the campaign trail and in public biographies, despite not possessing a medical license in the states of Michigan or New York.

The interview also addressed El-Sayed's personal finance disclosure. Hasan noted that El-Sayed sought an extension, pushing the filing deadline to August 13, after the primary election on August 4. El-Sayed cited complicated tax matters involving overseas property owned by his wife and her family as the reason for the delay.

Reporting from Bridge Michigan indicated that El-Sayed filed for an extension for his 2026 personal financial disclosure, with the report now due after the primary. The same report noted that Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., El-Sayed's primary opponent, had also requested similar extensions annually from 2019 to 2025, though she did not seek one this year.

Stevens' campaign has stated that El-Sayed pledged on camera after a debate to release his financial disclosures before the primary. "Now, the clock is ticking. Abdul needs to make good on his promise to Michiganders and release his PFD immediately. What is he hiding?" Arik Wolk, communications director for Haley Stevens for Senate, said in a statement.

El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on these matters.