The Democratic candidate for US Senate has been the subject of Islamophobic attacks from Trump.
Published on October 26, 2026
Detroit, Michigan — Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed rejected US President Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim attacks against him, saying they were an attempt to distract from the president’s own record.
At a news conference in Detroit on Monday, El-Sayed said Trump was trying to distract from issues that matter to Americans — including oil prices and the war with Iran — by accusing the Democratic nominee of being a “jihadist.”
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El-Sayed called the attacks “misappropriations and deceptions based on no evidence.”
“They have nothing to say about solving the problems in your life. They don’t talk about you,” the Democratic candidate said of the Republicans.
“They’re not talking about your gas or your groceries… They’re not talking about clean air or clean water. They’re not talking about any of the things that government is supposed to solve. Why? Because Donald Trump created these problems.”
At a Sunday rally in Michigan, Trump leveled baseless allegations against El-Sayed, accusing the Democrat of wanting to impose “Sharia law” on the country.
“He would be the only senator who will have to pass a metal detector before being allowed into the Senate,” Trump said. “I want him to have a metal detector.”
El-Sayed scoffed at the suggestion that he might personally pose a physical threat to Congress. “He knows I have these Wolverine claws,” he said, referring to the sports teams at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
The progressive Democrat and former public health official is locked in a tight race with former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, a race that could decide the Senate majority for the next two years.
Rogers has made unfounded allegations linking El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah a central point of his campaign.
On Monday, El-Sayed said most Americans reject such attacks.
“There are always a few small people who want to make America small like this. You see them, they are very loud and bark,” El-Sayed said.
“The vast majority of people in this state believe in a great America. They are open-minded. They have big hearts. And the story of America is those who believe in a great America, overcoming the deception, the distraction, the sad attempts of the small-minded to make us small.”
He added that “Michigans are much bigger than that.”
El-Sayed also addressed Trump’s statements mocking his name and misrepresenting him as “Mohammed.”
“My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t pay for your gas – or the reason you can’t pay for your groceries, or the reason you can’t pay your rent, or your mortgage, or the reason you can’t see a doctor,” he said.
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