Trump attacks El-Sayed over Muslim faith at Michigan rally

Hadriana Lowenkron and María Paula Mijares Torres, Bloomberg News on Oct 25, 2026

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President Donald Trump used a campaign rally to intensify his attacks on Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, his Muslim faith and his Egyptian heritage, repeatedly portraying the Michigan-born Democrat as sympathetic to Islamic extremism without offering any evidence for his allegations.

“Michigan needs to stand up and fight,” Trump said Sunday as he tried to boost Republican candidates running in the Nov. 3 midterm elections in Michigan. “Stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol.”

Trump traveled to Port Huron looking to mobilize Republican voters in one of the most hotly contested Senate races of the cycle, as Republicans have been struggling to overcome the president’s sagging popularity.

Polls show a close race, with El-Sayed slightly ahead of Republican Mike Rogers, as they battle to replace retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

The contest, poised to be crucial to determining Senate control, has taken on an increasingly sharp tone in recent weeks as the candidates and their surrogates trade barbs.

On Saturday, former President Barack Obama held his own Michigan rally, urging Democrats to get to the polls, especially for El-Sayed, in a final push as early voting started in the state.

“Like it or not, we’re stuck with two more years of this, but we’re not stuck with a spineless Congress,” Obama said to loud applause. “We are clear about the choice in this election. Abdul is fighting for change, real change.”

Trump has repeatedly assailed El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim U.S. senator, as a “jihadist” with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood — an extremist group. No evidence has been produced to link him to the organization and El-Sayed has denied any ties. Trump has also repeatedly referred to the Democrat on the trail as “Mohamed,” joking about how common the name is among Muslims. El-Sayed’s full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

On Sunday, the president also said El-Sayed would need to pass through a metal detector if he entered the Senate. He even invoked the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, recounting how Todd Beamer, a Michigan-born passenger on United Flight 93, and others confronted the hijackers aboard the plane, and comparing their actions with voters defeating El-Sayed.

“And nine days from now, the people of Michigan are going to defeat Abdul Mohammed Sayed, a man who should never be allowed inside the halls of our great, beautiful Capitol building in Washington, DC,” Trump said.

Republicans have also seized on El-Sayed’s comments that the U.S. should stop funding Israel and on his campaigning earlier in the race with livestreamer Hasan Piker, who’s been involved in a slew of antisemitic controversies. Rogers has sought to appeal to Jewish voters in the state uneasy about El-Sayed’s stance on Israel. El-Sayed has attempted to distance himself from Piker.

Republican candidates this cycle have been dragged down by Trump’s low approval ratings and the poor marks voters have given his handling of the economy and the war in Iran, which has also squeezed pocketbooks by spiking gas prices. In Michigan, those woes have been exacerbated by the president’s trade wars with neighboring Canada.

The Democratic candidate has sought to capitalize on voter anxiety over high cost of living. He cast Trump’s attacks on him as a bid to “distract us from the fact that we can’t afford our gas and we can’t afford our groceries,” in a recent ABC News Live interview.

Michigan is a top target for Republicans in their bid to keep control of the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of only four seats to take control of the chamber and have put the GOP on the defensive in numerous other states once seen as safe ground for Republicans.

The Cook Political Report has rated the Michigan Senate contest as a toss-up and in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, El-Sayed has a 1.9-percentage-point edge over Rogers.

Trump has ramped up his campaign travel, hitting Georgia, Florida, Iowa, South Carolina, North Carolina and Kansas in the last week as he looks to boost GOP candidates in tight races across the map. Polls indicate Democrats are likely to regain the House, raising the stakes for the Senate fight.

El-Sayed is a former health executive; Rogers is a former U.S. representative who chaired the House Intelligence Committee during his stint in Congress. Rogers lost a close 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin, despite Trump’s endorsement. Trump went on to win in Michigan that year.

The state also has a closely contested governor’s race to succeed term-limited Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. The Cook Political Report has the race between Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Republican John James rated as “lean Democrat.”

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(With assistance from David Welch.)