Abdul El-Sayed points to the historical struggle of black civil rights leaders that culminated in the passing of the Civil Rights Act and notably the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that removed racist quotas which gave a pathway for El-Sayed’s father to immigrate to the U.S. AES: My life exists because of the organizing in church pews in black churches and every time I go to a black church I always remind people, “This institution created the opportunity that I had.” And I’ve always understood my responsibility to be able to give back and to try to address a lot of those inequities in our country.

Abdul El-Sayed tells Ashley Allison that Mike Rogers is an NPC (non-playable character): Mike Rogers is an NPC, he just kinda goes along to get along, he’s gonna say what the party says. I really don’t think the man has ever thought an original thought, I don’t think he’s ever come up with an original idea, and like half the time when he talks you’re like “Really, that’s the best you can do bro?” I didn’t really appreciate why he skipped the first debate until I saw him at the second one. I was like “Yeah okay, alright we kind of get the point, it’s like why do I have to do it twice.”