“It was a Watergate-level repudiation.”— Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on the midterm elections Democrat Abdul El-Sayed made history Tuesday, becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

The 42-year-old former Detroit health director won Michigan’s closely watched race by seven points, overcoming attacks on his faith and a massive spending disadvantage.

El-Sayed joined “Morning Joe” today to discuss the lessons of his victory, working with President Donald Trump, and why he believes Democrats need to rethink how they govern.

Joe Scarborough: Republicans repeatedly tried to link you to terrorist organizations because of your faith. Yet you predicted you’d win by seven points — and you did. What did you understand about Michigan voters that your opponents didn’t?

I’ve been me for 42 years. From my vantage point, there are always a few small-minded people who speak very loudly and claim to speak for everybody else.

I took a bet on a big Michigan — that Michiganders were going to reject this kind of politics. And I’m just so grateful that they embraced a big Michigan that includes all of us.

Willie Geist: You kept bringing the conversation back to the price of gas and groceries. How important was that to your victory?

I think it was about affordability and consistency. We have this buzzword in politics: authenticity. But authenticity isn’t about delivery.

It’s about consistency. We got outspent in our primary 11 to one, $70 million. In the general election, we were outspent by about $110 million. But it didn’t knock me off my block. I kept talking about the same things in the same ways, everywhere I went.

Joe Scarborough: President Trump says he’s willing to work across the aisle after Tuesday’s defeats. Do you believe him — and where might you find common ground?

It’s funny what happens when you stand up to people and you beat them. I think people have always seen Donald Trump as this big, unbeatable monster. It turns out you just stand up to him, and he can read the tea leaves.

Our politics shouldn’t be about retribution. It should be about enforcing the rule of law and, most importantly, delivering for the American public.

If the president is interested in getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for all, that’s what I ran to do. I’m looking forward to working with anyone willing to do those things.

Joe Scarborough: Democrats won with candidates ranging from progressives to moderates. What’s the lesson for the party?

We look like America. One mistake we made in the past was organizing our big tent into separate groups, with politicians pandering to each one.

Our campaign tried to bring everybody to the center tentpole. No matter who you are, how you identify, what you look like or how you pray, you need a good job that pays a living wage. You need to be able to afford a home, send your kids to good schools, and have health care and a decent retirement.

Willie Geist: Your positions on Israel raised concerns among Jewish voters and your former primary opponent. What’s your message to those voters?

I was fortunate to grow up in a community where about 40% of my high school class was Jewish. I went to synagogues, seders, bar and bat mitzvahs. I have so much respect for the Jewish faith and Jewish contributions to American life.

The idea that anybody should feel unsafe in their synagogue or their day school is anathema to me. I’m committed to the safety of Jewish children, just as I am to the safety of my own children.

Joe Scarborough: Do you agree with President Trump about cutting off aid to Israel?

I do. I don’t think we should continue to subsidize a foreign military that has done the worst things with our money. I’d love to work with him on doing that. In fact, I don’t know that we should be continuing to sell weapons to a country that is using our weapons to do awful things. We have to separate between Judaism and the Jewish people, and Israel and its actions. Joe Scarborough: What should Democrats do first when they take office? Action, action, action, action. People have to see you governing.

There are three things we absolutely must do immediately. First, end this war. We need a war powers resolution that restores Congress’s war-making capacity. Second, end this tariff regime and the war against Canada. And third, stop the nuclear bomb about to go off in our healthcare system because of these Medicaid cuts.

Willie Geist: After all the attacks you’ve faced, why was it worth entering politics? And what would you tell young people considering public service?

We live in the greatest country in the world. I knew that growing up because I could travel 15 hours to my family’s native Egypt, where my grandmother, the smartest person I ever met, never got to go to school — and where life expectancy was 10 years shorter. But I didn’t have to travel 15 hours to see that kind of disparity. I could go 15 minutes from where I grew up into Detroit or Pontiac and find the same 10-year gap. I became a doctor because I wanted to do something about that.

We don’t have to be great again. What makes this country great is that we can correct course — and we need people doing the correcting.

I believe in public service. What a joy to be able to serve others, to create opportunity for others, because of the opportunity this country gave me. My family comes from a place where there is no democracy, so I don’t take it lightly that we get to do this.

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On Nov. 5, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Wendell Willkie to win an unprecedented third term. He was re-elected in 1944 but died just 82 days after his inauguration. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment was ratified, limiting future presidents to two elected terms.

© Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images A 1944 poster by James Montgomery Flagg for the Independent Voters’ Committee of the Arts and Sciences urges Franklin D. Roosevelt to seek a fourth term.

Jim VandeHei on the message from voters“We thought democracy was crumbling, that institutions couldn’t hold, that your vote wasn’t safe — but the elections went off as they should. The lesson of the last 40 years of politics is: Don’t BS the American people. Don’t promise to stay out of war and then go to war, or to bring down prices and then raise them. At some point, people say enough is enough. And they said enough.”

Claire McCaskill on the battle for Texas in 2028“Democratic presidential candidates are going to lust after Texas, which has 40 electoral votes. All of a sudden, that moderates the field because Democrats can compete there. They can’t help but win nationally if they carry Texas. And Republicans, at least in current thinking, can’t win the White House without it.”

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