Trump lashes out at Michigan Senate candidate with Islamophobic smear, demands humiliating metal-detector screening
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President Donald Trump used a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, to attack Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with anti-Muslim rhetoric, falsely painting him as a security threat while boosting Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed rejected the accusations and reaffirmed his loyalty to the U.S. Constitution.
President Donald Trump used a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday to urge voters to back Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and to portray Democratic contender Abdul El-Sayed as a security risk in a speech heavy with fearmongering and anti-Muslim insinuations. Trump described El-Sayed as a “Jihadist Member of the Muslim Brotherhood” and likened him to the September 11 attackers, claiming the state must “stand up and fight, just like Todd did, to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol.”
“He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go in the Senate,” Trump added, repeating his demand for extra screening if El-Sayed wins the November election, a remark widely read as a deliberate effort to stigmatize the candidate.
In a Truth Social post before the rally, Trump claimed El-Sayed wants the United States to adopt Sharia law and suggested the candidate should be the first to be tried if that occurs. El-Sayed answered at a town-hall meeting in Caro, rejecting the insinuation of dual loyalties and affirming his oath to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.
“You’re asking the question because implicitly you assume that I’ll have dual loyalties,” El-Sayed said, adding that he would swear allegiance to the Constitution.
The Senate race is viewed as a pivotal contest in the upcoming midterm elections. A Marist poll cited in reports showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 50 % to 48 % among likely voters. Former President Barack Obama campaigned for El-Sayed in Detroit and criticized Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict at a separate event in Cleveland.
Trump also highlighted his administration’s record on the auto industry and the expansion of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, claiming credit for job creation in Michigan.