Trump likens Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to 9/11 attackers at Michigan rally
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
President Donald Trump urged Michigan voters to reject Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, comparing him to the hijackers of United Flight 93, as the state’s Senate race draws near the November 3 election.
President Donald Trump addressed a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, warning voters that a "jihadist, Muslim Brotherhood member" could become a U.S. senator if Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed wins. Trump invoked the September 11 attacks, saying Michigan must "stand up and fight, just like Todd did, to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol," and suggested El-Sayed would need to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate.
El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim elected to the Senate if victorious, rejected the accusations and, in a campaign advertisement, said, "Faith is a thing there's just too little of in Washington." Former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican contender, has alleged without evidence that El-Sayed has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a claim the candidate called "shameful."
Rogers told NBC's "Meet the Press" that El-Sayed had not answered questions about the allegations and described him as a "Democrat Socialist of America-aligned candidate" with "radical support groups" opposed to America. Trump later praised Rogers on Fox News, calling him "an amazing senator" and "solid as a rock. Apple pie."
The race is viewed as pivotal for control of the Senate, with Democrats needing a small number of seats to overturn the current Republican majority. Former President Barack Obama also campaigned in Michigan, criticizing the attacks on El-Sayed as attempts to portray him as unpatriotic.