The president invoked 9/11. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, jibed back.
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PORT HURON, Mich. — President Donald Trump repeatedly called Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” during a campaign rally here on Sunday, urging thousands of his supporters to fight the epidemiologist running to become the nation’s first Muslim senator in the same way Americans battled terrorists on 9/11.
The crowd loudly booed El-Sayed as Trump baselessly claimed that the Michigan candidate wanted to impose sharia law in the state, and he warned that it would be dangerous for him to have access to national security secrets as a senator. Sharia is the name given to the moral and religious rules of Islam. It is not part of the law code for any jurisdiction in the United States.
Trump also accused El-Sayed of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has disavowed the organization, and no evidence has been provided to show he has had any affiliation with it.
Democrats cast the president’s incendiary rhetoric and focus on El-Sayed’s religion as a desperate attempt to distract from voter concerns about the cost of living, which have defined the midterms.
“The reason they are using Islamophobia against Abdul is because they have nothing to say about the real issues,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), during a Sunday rally in the DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “These guys have nothing to say about the real issues impacting working families, and all they can do is foment hatred and divisiveness.”
El-Sayed also cast Trump’s remarks as a weak diversion from the challenges confronting his administration.
“They think that by pointing at my name and my faith, that somehow you’re going to ignore the fact that you can’t afford your gas or your groceries, can’t see a doctor,” El-Sayed said at the rally.
El-Sayed jibed at Trump’s repeated use of his middle name, Mohamed.
“I don’t even care that he remembers my whole name, because he can just go on and call me ‘Senator’ after November,” El-Sayed said at the rally. “I will be Senator Mohamed to you, bro.”
At his rally in Port Huron, Trump invoked the story of Todd Beamer, who died on Sept. 11, 2001, on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Beamer, a Michigan resident, was one of the passengers who thwarted the terrorists’ effort to hit their presumed target, the U.S. Capitol.
“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight just like Todd did to stop a jihadist,” Trump said.
Trump, who appeared at the rally with top-selling rapper Nicki Minaj, a prominent supporter, acknowledged that weeks of nearly daily rallies in the leadup to the midterms were straining his vocal cords.
“When God made vocal cords, he did not make them for 25 or 26 of these in a period of 10 days,” he said. “But we have to win.”
Todd Beamer’s father, David Beamer, joined Trump onstage to rally the crowd to vote for Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers in the midterms in just over one week, referring to El-Sayed and the Democratic Socialists of America, as “the enemy.”
”The enemy is right here among us,” David Beamer said.
Many of the Trump supporters in the arena chanted “Let’s Roll,” the phrase Todd Beamer was heard saying before charging the hijackers in Flight 93’s cockpit.
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In the final stretch of the midterm campaign, Trump has been tapping into fears about communism, terrorism and immigration, repeating a playbook that he has deployed in past elections, with mixed results. A similar effort to emphasize fears of immigrants heading toward the U.S. border from Central America fell flat, leading to widespread Republican losses in the 2018 midterms.
Trump suggested that if Democrats are victorious this year, the U.S. would face some of the same challenges confronting France, where mass protests have led to looting and fires in the streets.
Trump also claimed that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), is using a false name, which she has denied. In Somalia, where Omar was born, people “just run around shooting each other,” he said, and questioned why she thinks she should have constitutional rights. Federal agents recently searched Omar’s home as part of an investigation into her family’s immigration.
Meanwhile, Trump portrayed Rogers as a candidate out of “central casting,” calling him “apple pie.”
Trump frequently made profane comments during the rally. He said Norway “sucks” as he noted that the Norwegian Nobel committee did not award him the Nobel Peace Prize.
He also directed the crowd to look at Minaj’s “beautiful ass,” which he said was “hard to miss.” The comment came as he talked about the attention he has received for remarks in which he complimented the “ass” of Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio.
At the rally across the state, El-Sayed joked about the president’s comments about men’s bodies, saying he’s going to be careful about Trump when he gets to Washington. “Eyes up here, Donald.”
Minaj flew to the Port Huron rally with Trump on Air Force One, joining other celebrities and athletes who have stumped for Trump at recent rallies intended to drive turnout ahead of Election Day.
Minaj led a chant for the Republican candidates in the state and promised to support Trump if he runs for an additional term. (Trump has at times suggested he would run again, although at other times he has conceded that doing so would violate the Constitution).
Minaj has emerged as one of Trump’s chief supporters in the music industry in his second term, after she opposed his administration’s family separation policy at the border during his first term. At the time, she cited her experience of immigrating to the U.S. from Trinidad at age 5.
A day earlier, country singer Jason Aldean introduced Trump at a rally in Georgia, calling the president a “friend.” Influencer Jake Paul, an Ohio native, stumped for Trump at a rally in Youngstown. Prominent athletes, including racecar driver Richard Petty and boxers Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, have also joined the president on the campaign trail during the midterms.
The appearances represent an effort to recapture some of the cultural capital ascribed to the youthful MAGA coalition that helped propel Trump to the White House in 2024. During that election, well-known podcasters, athletes and influencers with largely young, male audiences were seen as key drivers of the unusual coalition that helped propel Trump to the White House.
It’s unclear whether the current appearances will move the needle for Republicans. The president remains deeply unpopular, especially with young people, whom politicians often try to appeal to with musicians and influencers. Trump’s approval rating has hit record lows, coming in at 33 percent in a Washington Post-ABC-Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month.
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Cox reported from Grand Rapids.
