Trump hits El-Sayed with Islamophobic attack in Michigan
President smears Democrat who would be first Muslim US senator, as small panel suggests some of his own 2024 voters are drifting
WASHINGTON (MNTV) — President Donald Trump has escalated his attacks on Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed with openly Islamophobic rhetoric, while giving Republican challenger Mike Rogers his “complete and total endorsement” ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump repeatedly misnamed El-Sayed “Mohammed El-Sayed,” called him a “RADICAL Extremist” and “Terrorist Sympathizer,” invoked the word “Jihad” and tied him to the political streamer Hasan Piker.
Trump offered no evidence; a Bridge Michigan fact-check found no basis for related Republican claims linking El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood. The post placed the Michigan race squarely inside a national fight over immigration, Islam and identity.
El-Sayed, a physician and former Wayne County health official, won the Democratic nomination in August and is backed by Senator Bernie Sanders.
If elected, he would become the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate.
He has largely answered the attacks by pivoting to economics — healthcare, affordability and reducing the role of money in politics — and in one interview urged Trump to talk less about him and more about the cost of living.
Rogers, a former congressman, has embraced Trump’s endorsement even as he distances himself from the president on points such as the U.S.-Canada tariff dispute and the Iran war, both of which he now opposes after earlier backing them.
There are signs the attacks may not be landing as intended. On a panel convened by the network MS NOW, five of the six decided voters among 10 Michiganders who backed Trump in 2024 said they favored El-Sayed over Rogers; four others were undecided.
The panel is far too small to represent the state, and even if all four undecided voters chose Rogers it would split evenly — but it points to the cross-party frustration both camps are watching. Recent polling has shown a tight race, with several surveys giving El-Sayed a narrow lead. The Cook Political Report rates it a “Toss Up.”
El-Sayed is also raising his national profile: former President Barack Obama is due to campaign with him in Detroit later this month, alongside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared with him last month.
His campaign has faced renewed scrutiny of past statements about dual U.S. and Egyptian citizenship; it says he never held dual citizenship and had misunderstood information from relatives.
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