Trump Ramps Up His Islamophobic Attacks Against Abdul El-Sayed

President Donald Trump ramped up his Islamophobic remarks against Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a Sunday campaign rally in Michigan, hurling everything from unfounded “jihadist” accusations to suggestions that an El-Sayed victory would mean canceling Christmas. 

“He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” Trump said. “I want him to have a metal detector.”

The president also likened voting against El-Sayed to the actions of Todd Beamer, one of the passengers aboard United Flight 93 flight who attempted to regain control of the plane on Sept. 11, leading to a crash in Pennsylvania: “Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight, just like Todd did, to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol.”

Trump’s comments came in a rally in support of Republican candidate Mike Rogers, who continues to launch his own Islamophobic remarks at El-Sayed. In his final debate last week, Rogers claimed, without evidence, that El-Sayed is “bought off by the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

El-Sayed is a US-born citizen and former public health administrator who has repeatedly pledged to uphold the Constitution. There is no evidence that he was ever a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or any foreign organization. He has previously called the anti-Muslim rhetoric weaponized against him “shameful” and an attempt to “distract us from the suffering [Trump’s] policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office.”