Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Outsiders and challengers have pulled off unlikely victories against incumbents and establishment-backed candidates all across the country. And now, another Democratic socialist is vying to pull off the next big upset in Michigan. That candidate is state Representative
Donavan McKinney, running to unseat incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th congressional district.
McKinney joined Prem Thakker at Zeteo just days before the election to discuss how growing up in poverty and under constant threat of eviction made him the politician he is today.
“I remember living out of trash bags,” he recalled.
“It’s just sad that we live in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world and we have people in such despair and such poverty but we can find money – our taxpayer money – to go to war in Iran or fund genocide across the globe, and you’re telling our folks here they can’t get the resources they justly deserve.”
Citing Black history and the labor movement, McKinney also talked about why he’s “proud” to be a Democratic socialist, especially at a time when the media treats Black voters as a monolith of moderates.
“This is a new generational wave right now,” he said. “It’s complicated, and there’s nuance, but what I see day in and day out in my district – it doesn’t matter where you live, doesn’t matter who you love, your race, how you worship, whether you live in a city or suburban…we’re all a part of the 99% no matter how you slice it.”
Hear all this and so much more, including how McKinney first encountered the issue of Israel and Palestine only a few years ago, in the video above.
*This interview was published a day ago on zeteo.com. If you would like access to more exclusive content like this then head over to Zeteo’s Substack and become a paid subscriber today. Your support matters!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:46 Shri Thanedar
04:19 Detroit
10:26 Trash Bags to Congress
15:06 Labor Movement
20:40 Democratic Socialist
26:33 Data Centers
29:00 Change
33:30 Gaza
Subscribe to Zeteo to support independent and unfiltered journalism: zeteo.com/subscribe
Find Zeteo:
Twitter: twitter.com/zeteo_news
Instagram: instagram.com/zeteonews
TikTok: tiktok.com/@zeteonews
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com
Find Mehdi:
Substack: substack.com/@mehdirhasan
Twitter: twitter.com/@mehdirhasan
Instagram: instagram.com/@mehdirhasan
Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@mehdirhasan
To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit
advertising.libsyn.com/network/Zeteo
Outsiders and challengers have pulled off unlikely victories against incumbents and establishment-backed candidates all across the country. And now, another Democratic socialist is vying to pull off the next big upset in Michigan. That candidate is state Representative
Donavan McKinney, running to unseat incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th congressional district.
McKinney joined Prem Thakker at Zeteo just days before the election to discuss how growing up in poverty and under constant threat of eviction made him the politician he is today.
“I remember living out of trash bags,” he recalled.
“It’s just sad that we live in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world and we have people in such despair and such poverty but we can find money – our taxpayer money – to go to war in Iran or fund genocide across the globe, and you’re telling our folks here they can’t get the resources they justly deserve.”
Citing Black history and the labor movement, McKinney also talked about why he’s “proud” to be a Democratic socialist, especially at a time when the media treats Black voters as a monolith of moderates.
“This is a new generational wave right now,” he said. “It’s complicated, and there’s nuance, but what I see day in and day out in my district – it doesn’t matter where you live, doesn’t matter who you love, your race, how you worship, whether you live in a city or suburban…we’re all a part of the 99% no matter how you slice it.”
Hear all this and so much more, including how McKinney first encountered the issue of Israel and Palestine only a few years ago, in the video above.
*This interview was published a day ago on zeteo.com. If you would like access to more exclusive content like this then head over to Zeteo’s Substack and become a paid subscriber today. Your support matters!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:46 Shri Thanedar
04:19 Detroit
10:26 Trash Bags to Congress
15:06 Labor Movement
20:40 Democratic Socialist
26:33 Data Centers
29:00 Change
33:30 Gaza
Subscribe to Zeteo to support independent and unfiltered journalism: zeteo.com/subscribe
Find Zeteo:
Twitter: twitter.com/zeteo_news
Instagram: instagram.com/zeteonews
TikTok: tiktok.com/@zeteonews
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com
Find Mehdi:
Substack: substack.com/@mehdirhasan
Twitter: twitter.com/@mehdirhasan
Instagram: instagram.com/@mehdirhasan
Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@mehdirhasan
To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit
advertising.libsyn.com/network/Zeteo
![Major Escalation [In Iran] From The U.S. Side Coming Soon](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tn9LOk7erz0/mqdefault.jpg "Major Escalation [In Iran] From The U.S. Side Coming Soon
“Theres going to be a major escalation from the U.S. side... its going to be quite terrible.”
Mehdi and Iran expert Trita Parsi discuss America’s escalation of the Iran war and the collapse of trust between the two nations.
Watch the full panel — https://zeteo.com/p/major-us-escalation-against-iran
Subscribe to Zeteo to support independent and unfiltered journalism: https://zeteo.com/subscribe
Find Zeteo:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_news
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonews
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonews
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com
Find Mehdi:
Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasan
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasan
To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit
https://advertising.libsyn.com/network/Zeteo")
