Trump escalates anti-Muslim attacks against El-Sayed in Michigan
PORT HURON, Mich. —
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Trump → escalate → Michigan
President Donald Trump intensified his anti-Muslim rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday, portraying him as a threat to national security and questioning his loyalty to the United States in remarks that drew a sharp rebuke from a former top Arab American ally.
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that → intensify → ally
Trump called El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official, a "jihadist" who was "on the side of the terrorists" and would "have to go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go into the Senate."
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he → call → Senate
He also repeatedly invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, drawing a comparison between stopping El-Sayed from entering the Senate chamber and the passengers who fought back against the hijackers aboard United Flight 93.
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who → invoke → Flight
El-Sayed, who would become the nation's first Muslim senator if elected, has called attacks on his loyalty to the country "shameful" and repeatedly denied any ties to extremist groups.
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who → become → groups
The Republican president's remarks were condemned by Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, the group that helped lead the president's outreach to Arab American voters in 2024.
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that → condemn → 2024
"The president's statements are out of line," he said in a phone interview.
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he → say → interview
"They are crossing a red line.
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They → cross → line
With Republicans on the defensive over inflation, soaring fuel prices and the Iran war, the president has been trying to generate turnout by claiming that El-Sayed and other Democrats are existential threats to America, instead of electoral rivals.
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Sayed → soar → America
Michigan's Senate race between El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is among a handful of contests that could determine control of the chamber.
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that → determine → chamber
Trump made his remarks in Port Huron, a Canadian border city about an hour north of Detroit and near communities where he made significant gains among Arab American voters in 2024.
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he → make → 2024
He became the first Republican presidential candidate since 2000 to win Dearborn, a city with one of the nation's largest concentrations of Arab Americans.
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He → become → Americans
Trump, who imposed a travel ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries during his first term, has increasingly leaned into anti-Muslim rhetoric as Election Day approaches.
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Day → impose → rhetoric
He also attacked Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota at Sunday's rally, where he declared that he had come to Michigan "to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator.
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he → attack → member
Responding to Trump, who also regularly mocks his name, El-Sayed told supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids later Sunday that he doesn't care how Trump pronounces or misrepresents it.
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Trump → respond → it
"I don't even care that he remembers my whole name because he can just go on and call me 'senator' after November," El-Sayed said, drawing cheers.
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Sayed → care → cheers
El-Sayed's faith, associations and past statements become campaign flashpoints
Central to Republicans' strategy against El-Sayed in the final weeks of the campaign has been an effort to link him to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic movement with branches that the U.S. government has designated as terrorist organizations.
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government → become → organizations
There is no evidence that El-Sayed has any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Sayed → be → Brotherhood
His half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, wrote on social media in 2012 that "my family has long been MB" and described a conversation with her mother about her involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1970s.
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family → write → 1970s
El-Sayed was born in the United States to Egyptian immigrant parents who divorced when he was young.
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he → bear → parents
He was raised by his father, not his biological mother.
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He → raise → father
Trump on Sunday also targeted El-Sayed's ties to popular streamer Hasan Piker, who appeared alongside the Democrat multiple times during the primary campaign, including at his election night event.
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who → target → event
Piker in the past has said that "Hamas is a thousand times better" than Israel, describing some Orthodox Jews as "inbred" and that "America deserved 9/11."
El-Sayed has faced criticism for his own rhetoric.
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Sayed → say → rhetoric
He has repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether Iran or Israel poses a bigger threat to the country.
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Iran → refuse → country
Earlier this year, he said "hurt people hurt people" after an attack on a synagogue in the Detroit area.
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people → say → area
The attacker had lost four relatives in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon the week earlier.
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attacker → lose → Lebanon
El-Sayed later apologized, saying he was not trying to justify what happened.
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what → apologize → ?
"To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I'm really sorry," he said.
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he → feel → anyone
Founder of Arab Americans for Trump calls the president 'racist'
Bahbah, whose organization has since changed its name to Arab Americans for Peace, said Trump's remarks were unacceptable to Arab and Muslim communities, including Christian Arabs.
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remarks → call → Arabs
I mean, no sane individual would say these things," Bahbah said.
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Bahbah → mean → things
Dearborn helped Trump win Michigan in 2024 after many voters in the city were outraged by the Biden administration's handling of the war in Gaza.
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voters → help → Gaza
"The president of the United States saying that about a person because of his religion, that is just not acceptable," said Bahbah.
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Bahbah → say → religion
"And people are going to remember that on Nov. 3."
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people → go → Nov.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking at the Grand Rapids rally, said Trump and his allies were using Islamophobia because they have "nothing to say" about the issues most important to working people, such as health care, housing and income inequality.
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they → speak → care
"All they can do is foment hatred and divisiveness," Sanders said.
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Sanders → do → hatred
The campaign has been one of the most contentious this year
Rogers and El-Sayed have been locked in a bitter race to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
During their second and final general election campaign debate, Rogers questioned El-Sayed's loyalty to the United States.
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Rogers → lock → States
"Are you for America, or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?" Rogers asked.
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Rogers → ask → groups
El-Sayed said that questioning was "shameful."
"I'm proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray," he said.
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he → say → right
Speaking before Trump's appearance Sunday, Rogers repeated his allegations linking El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Rogers → speak → Brotherhood
"The Muslim Brotherhood celebrated exactly one victory in the United States in the primary this year," Rogers said on stage.
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Rogers → celebrate → stage
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
