Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate and progressive activist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on Thursday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for president in 2020, citing the Vermont senator's commitment to Medicare for All, his willingness to speak out on behalf of the Palestinians, and his "moral integrity."

"Bernie has CREATED the political conversation we're having now. Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Free College, no corporate money—all because of Bernie," El-Sayed wrote in a series of tweets. "We're not just fighting to beat Trump, but to build the after-Trump. Bernie understands that those teachers, nurses, and line workers are the ones who will do it. And they have made it clear that Bernie's is the movement they trust to do it."

“Every time, whether it comes to health care, whether it comes to housing, whether it comes to a job that pays a living wage, Bernie Sanders is the answer.” -@AbdulElSayed pic.twitter.com/XzHr2m6GW6 — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 21, 2019

El-Sayed is the former director of the Detroit Health Department and an outspoken supporter of Medicare for All. Sanders endorsed and campaigned for El-Sayed in his 2018 Michigan gubernatorial primary race against now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

"Bernie's Medicare for All plan is the most honest," El-Sayed wrote Thursday. "It trusts the American people to understand that we get what we pay for AND that we can do better than the insurance corporations that are dragging us for their profits."

In a video explaining his endorsement, El-Sayed said he's proud to back Sanders because the senator has "been a leader on Medicare for All for a long time."

"I went to medical school to learn how to heal people, realized that the system is making them sick," said El-Sayed. "Medicare for All is the solution that we need right now to be able to solve the clear inequities that we have in healthcare, the fact that too many people are going bankrupt, because we have unaffordable healthcare, and the fact that our healthcare system is ineffective."

"I think every time—whether it comes to healthcare, whether it comes to housing, whether it comes to a job that pays a living wage—Bernie Sanders is the answer," El-Sayed added.