Progressive candidate wrecks Fox News host in blistering interview: 'That is a problem'

Progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed stepped into the hornet's nest Monday to discuss his policy platform with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, an interview that didn't go the way some Fox News viewers likely expected.

El-Sayed has received a lot of criticism from the right wing about his support for policies like Medicare For All and other policies that Republicans have deemed "socialist." MacCallum attempted to challenge El-Sayed on some of his talking points during the interview, but his answers often left MacCallum searching for what to say next.

For instance, MacCallum compared American and European health care systems. She claimed European health care leaves "people waiting so long" for actual care, while America's market-driven system provides better overall care.

El-Sayed was having none of it.

"The idea that we're going to point to another country that did something poorly and say, 'We can't do better' is ridiculous," El-Sayed shot back, adding that the average wait time to see a cardiologist in America is around 2.5 months. "The idea that you point to another country and say they failed on this statistic — that we’re not also failing — that is a problem."

MacCallum also challenged El-Sayed's support for public schools, citing a statistic that suggests 25% of students in fourth grade can read proficiently.

"That is a huge public school system that is massively failing, so why should we think the government will do a good job with our health care?" MacCallum asked.

El-Sayed picked apart the assumptions underlying her question.

"Those public schools are deeply underfunded," he said, pointing to issues stemming from property tax revenue. "The school districts, the ones that are failing, they are failing because we don't invest enough. To your point, we have a great military because we choose to invest in it. Imagine if we chose to invest in health care."