President Donald Trump delivered a hard-hitting speech at a campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan on Sunday, intensifying his criticism of Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Trump portrayed the candidate as an extremist linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and even compared him to the 9/11 hijackers who took over United Flight 93.
“I’m here to keep an extremist, Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator,” Trump told the crowd. He urged Michigan voters to “stand up and fight, just like Todd did,” referring to Michigan native Todd Beamer and the passengers who resisted the hijackers. Trump further claimed that if El-Sayed wins, “he would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go in the Senate.”
If elected, Abdul El-Sayed would become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. The open Michigan seat is one of the most competitive races in the November 3 midterms and could help decide control of the chamber. Republican candidate and former US Representative Mike Rogers has repeatedly alleged, without providing evidence, that El-Sayed has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has firmly denied any affiliation, calling the accusations “shameful” and insisting that questioning his loyalty to America is wrong. In a recent ad he simply stated, “Faith is a thing there’s just too little of in Washington.”
Rogers told NBC’s Meet the Press that El-Sayed has not adequately answered the questions and described him as a “Democrat Socialist of America-aligned candidate” backed by radical groups.
Just a day earlier, former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in Detroit. He compared the attacks on El-Sayed to the old false claims that he himself was born in Kenya. “We have seen this movie before,” Obama said. “I starred in it… This stuff didn’t work on me. Not in Michigan. It’s not going to work on Abdul.”
The race is unfolding in a state Trump carried heavily in 2024. Manufacturing investments and US-Canada tariffs remain key local issues, with Rogers praising some of Trump’s tariff results while expressing concern about the impact on the auto industry. Trump, for his part, called Rogers “solid as a rock” and predicted he will be an “amazing senator.”
Democrats need only a handful of seats in both the Senate and House to overturn the current Republican majorities, making Michigan’s contest especially important.
