Gambiaj.com – (MICHIGAN, United States) – US President Donald Trump has intensified his attacks on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, repeatedly invoking his Muslim identity while misnaming him “Mohammed” and accusing him without evidence of being a “radical extremist” and “terrorist sympathizer.”
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump referred to the candidate as “Mohammed El-Sayed” and said he was associated with “the days of the Jihad.” Trump also endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers, who is seeking to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
El-Sayed, whose full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, responded Thursday by turning Trump’s repeated mispronunciation and use of his name into a campaign message.
“He knows my name is Abdul. He says it every day,” El-Sayed said, accusing Trump of using his name and faith to distract voters from the economic pressures they face.
Speaking at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, he went further, joking about Trump’s apparent difficulty with his name.
“My name is Abdul. Just Abdul. So try again. And pronounce it correctly,” he said, adding that voters would soon be referring to him as “Senator” after the November election.
El-Sayed, a Muslim physician born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, has become a prominent target of Republican attacks in the closely watched Senate contest. Republicans have sought to portray him as a radical because of his progressive politics and Muslim faith, while some have alleged links between him and the Muslim Brotherhood or Al-Qaeda without providing evidence.
Trump has also sought to link El-Sayed to left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, whom the president described as “America hating” in his latest attack. El-Sayed publicly distanced himself from Piker in August, saying that the safety of Jewish people was as important to him as the safety of his own daughters.
The latest clash comes as El-Sayed prepares to face Rogers in their first televised Senate debate. Trump has endorsed Rogers in the November 3 election, which is being closely watched because of the importance of Michigan to control of the US Senate.
El-Sayed, who defeated Democratic Representative Haley Stevens in the party primary, is campaigning on universal healthcare, higher taxes on billionaires, restrictions on political action committee spending, and measures aimed at reducing the cost of living. He is backed by prominent progressive Democrats, including Bernie Sanders.
The confrontation has also drawn criticism from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who condemned Trump’s remarks as an attack on El-Sayed during a highly competitive election campaign.
For El-Sayed, however, the focus remains on what he describes as the economic concerns facing Michigan voters.
Trump “thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office,” El-Sayed said.
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