U.S Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and an influential figure in liberal politics, argues that the question facing Democratic primary voters in Michigan this summer is whether to maintain the “status quo” or to pursue “real change.”

Sanders made the arguments during an interview with The Detroit News ahead of a series of campaign events over the weekend in Michigan, where he supported progressive former health official Abdul El-Sayed’s bid for the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

El-Sayed is in a heated and close race in the Aug. 4 primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, who’s been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township and former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing.

Sanders brushed away the concerns of some Michigan Democrats about whether El-Sayed of Ann Arbor can win a general election contest against Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township.

“Maybe it’s time to understand the status quo is not working for working families or the middle class,” Sanders said. “It is working for the fossil fuel industry, for the oil companies. It is working for the insurance companies. It is working for the billionaires. And the people of this country want change.

“They want real change, and Abdul is a vehicle for that change. That is why the billionaire super PACs are spending so much money trying to defeat him.”

More: Haley Stevens has a lopsided spending advantage against Abdul El-Sayed

What follows is a transcript of a telephone interview with Sanders that’s been edited for length and clarity.

Question: Do you have any thoughts on what’s going on with this smoke? Right now, it’s blanketing Michigan. We have local health departments putting out notices, telling people not to go outside. I know people will be interested in your thoughts on this if you’re willing to share them.

Answer: Look, this is exactly what climate scientists have predicted for decades. The planet is getting warmer. There’s been a terrible heat wave in Europe; thousands of people have died. There is a heat wave in the United States, causing drought. It’s causing forest fires. And what you’re seeing now is a manifestation of that. It is awful. It is horrible. And yet we have a president of the United States who continues to believe that climate change is a “hoax.”

He has cut funding substantially for sustainable energy, which would allow us to cut carbon emissions and address the crisis of climate change. So that’s what we’re looking at right now. It is a very, very serious problem.

Q: Do you think people out there understand that there’s a connection between what’s happening in the air right now and climate change? I mean, do you think that argument’s getting to people?

A: It’s not a question of an argument. This is what climate scientists have been saying: The planet is getting warmer. As we speak, community after community is experiencing in the United States and around the world, record breaking temperatures. And on a given day, it has never been hotter in this city, in that city.

This is the reality of what’s going on. And of course, it is caused by carbon emissions. And of course, it’s caused by climate change and tragically, we have a president of the United States who is more interested in the profits of the oil companies than he is in the health and well-being of the American people.

More: Bernie Sanders says air quality will worsen until ‘status quo’ changes

Q: You have talked about the role of money in politics for so long. And you have a race in this U.S. Senate primary now where Abdul El-Sayed is getting outspent, in outside spending $12 to $1, $50 million pouring in for Haley Stevens. What is your reaction to this? I mean, this is a close race.

A: Thanks for asking that question, and obviously, I have a strong reaction to it. Because this issue, as important as it is for Michigan, and the next senator, it really is a national issue. And the issue here is whether or not we’re going to continue living in a democracy, where we have debates between candidates who have different points of view. Haley Stevens has her point of view, that’s fine. Abdul has his point of view, that’s fine. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about.

But what democracy is not supposed to be about is billionaire super PACs spending unlimited amounts of money. In this case, I think in Michigan, they’re up to $50 million already to buy a United States Senate seat. So in many ways, this election in Michigan is not Abdul versus Haley. It is Abdul versus the billionaire class, and their unlimited amounts of money.

AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), I think, is spending close to $30 million already. They do not want Abdul. Because Abdul knows that we should be investing our funds in our kids and our senior citizens, in education, in housing, not in providing hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to the extremist Netanyahu government in Israel, that has already committed genocide in Gaza, and has helped push us into a war in Iran.

More: 8 takeaways from new poll: Michigan Democratic voters seek fighters

Q: Do you have any concerns that there could be voters who don’t know a lot about this race, who are just seeing the TV ads, hearing Haley’s name, and that that could be the sole difference in this race? I’ve been thinking a lot about your 2016 primary race against Hillary Clinton in Michigan where you pulled off this upset. You had TV ad spending on your side in that race. Your campaign had enough money to run ads to counter what Hillary was doing. Abdul has not been able to match anywhere close to the amount of outside spending here.

Sanders: So to answer your question, of course, I’m concerned about it. If you’re sitting home and you’re not particularly interested or involved in politics, they have ads to tell you how terrible Abdul is and … how wonderful Haley Stevens is. Yeah. I’m sure there’s going to be thousands of people saying, “I’m going to go out and vote for Haley Stevens.”

I would just hope very much that people think for a minute: Why is it that billionaire-funded super PACs are spending so much money? And what are the goals? What do they want? Are they concerned about working-class people? Are they concerned about climate change? Are they concerned about whether or not we have a tax system which demands that the wealthiest people who have never had it so good, start paying their fair share of taxes? Whether or not we guarantee healthcare to all people is a right? So, you know, I think that’s what this campaign is about.

Q: The argument against Abdul that many Democrats are making right now is that they don’t believe he can win the general election against Mike Rogers. What’s your response to that?

A: My response is that is fundamentally flawed. What the Democratic establishment believes is that you want to have establishment type candidates pushing, establishment type, status quo policies, and having those candidates funded, as you’re seeing right now in Michigan, by billionaire super PACs. That’s their theory of how you win.

I think the American people know there’s something fundamentally wrong. When 60% of our people are struggling today to put food on the table, pay for childcare, pay for housing, while the billionaires have never ever had it so good. The American people are sick and tired of the same old, same old status quo policies.

They understand we’ve got to have an economy that works for all, not just the few. So the question is whether we maintain the status quo, which is what the Democratic establishment says, “Vote for us. We’re the status quo. We not going to do much. We’re not going to shake up the system.”

Q: One last question. There’s this parasite outbreak where thousands of people are getting sick with cyclosporiasis. Have you followed this? And do you have any reaction to what’s going on here?

A: I’m not a doctor. But I’m the ranking member on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Trump’s appointment of [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] to head Health and Human Services and his other public health appointments have been disasters. We need public health officials in America who are going to protect the public health of the American people, not get involved in various types of conspiracy theories.

cmauger@detroitnews.com