Politics · United States · 4 hrs ago
Trump and allies target Muslim Senate candidate with racist attacks
Donald Trump and other Republicans have targeted Abdul El-Sayed during the 2026 midterm campaign.
El-Sayed is a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Michigan and would become the first Muslim senator if elected.
At a rally in Port Huron, Trump called him a “jihadist” and suggested he should face a metal detector to enter the Senate.
The sources say there is no evidence for Trump’s accusations that El-Sayed is linked to terrorism.
Vice-President JD Vance also accused El-Sayed of anti-white racism, while Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made sweeping claims about Arabs and scientific achievement.
The attacks have made race and religion prominent in the campaign as Republicans face criticism over their record and election message.
The sources give no election result or further step in the campaign.
Donald Trump and other Republicans have targeted Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with racist and Islamophobic attacks during the 2026 midterm campaign.
At a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, Trump called El-Sayed a “jihadist” and suggested he would need to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate.
Vice President JD Vance accused El-Sayed of anti-white racism at a Michigan rally on Tuesday.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made remarks about Arabs’ contributions to science and literature that Rolling Stone described as a reference to El-Sayed.
El-Sayed would become the first Muslim senator if elected.
- Who
- Donald Trump, JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have attacked Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
- What
- They made racist and Islamophobic remarks about El-Sayed. Trump called him a “jihadist” and suggested he would need a metal detector to enter the Senate.
- When
- During the 2026 midterm campaign, including at rallies on Sunday and Tuesday.
- Where
- At campaign rallies in Port Huron and elsewhere in Michigan.
- Why
- Rolling Stone said the attacks were aimed at cutting down El-Sayed and described Vance’s remarks as a bid to mobilize economically disadvantaged white voters.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Trump mocked El-Sayed’s name in remarks shared in a social media post.
Vance accused El-Sayed of anti-white racism at a Michigan rally.
Trump attacked El-Sayed at a rally in Port Huron.
- Candidate
- Abdul El-Sayed
- Race
- 2026 midterms
- State
- Michigan
- Potential milestone
- Would become the first Muslim senator if elected
- Rally location
- Port Huron, Michigan
3 sources
What people are saying
jihadist
If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will open the floodgates and invite hordes of jihadis to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas
Abdul El-Sayed, who maybe more than any Democrat running in the nation has engaged in the kind of explicitly anti-white racial hatred that has become common in the Democratic Party
There’s five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don’t produce science. They don’t win the Nobel Prize. They don’t win the Fields Prize. They don’t win the Wolf Prize. They don’t produce literature.
Posts on X
Trump on El-Sayed: "His name is actually Abduladadalalalala. It's Adulbabababababa Mohammed Al-Sayed. So his middle name is Mohammed. So I was right. He's a jihadist."