President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed this week, warning Black and Jewish voters that supporting the progressive candidate would make them crazy as both parties fight for control of the upper chamber.
Speaking during a campaign appearance in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday, Trump pivoted from local politics to address the high-stakes Michigan race between El-Sayed and Republican nominee Mike Rogers. “If you’re Black or if you’re Jewish and if you vote for Abdul, you’re crazy,” Trump told the crowd, before quickly adding, “You’re crazy anyway,” according to theGrio.
The comments drew immediate backlash from Democrats and civil rights advocates. Marseille Allen, executive director of Rank MI Vote, told theGrio that Trump was seeking to divide diverse coalitions, while Brandon Weathersby of the liberal research group American Bridge 21st Century accused the president of insulting voters’ intelligence while spreading falsehoods about a Muslim candidate.
Inflammatory rhetoric enters closing days
Trump and his conservative allies have increasingly focused on El-Sayed’s background in the final stretch before Tuesday’s election. During a weekend rally in Port Huron, Michigan, Trump falsely labeled El-Sayed a “jihadist” and tied him to the Muslim Brotherhood, while invoking the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, HuffPost reported. Other prominent Republicans, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, have also leveled harsh criticisms against El-Sayed and Arab culture, according to HuffPost.
Rogers has echoed some of those themes, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that his rival was “anti-Jew” and asserting on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Democrat aligns with a radical agenda, The Guardian and HuffPost reported. El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former Detroit health director, has condemned both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, while dismissing the attacks as bad-faith efforts to distract from rising costs for healthcare, gasoline and groceries.
Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told HuffPost that the level of vitriol directed at El-Sayed and the broader Muslim community was “truly unprecedented” in his two decades with the organization.
Democrats rally despite past divisions
El-Sayed, who would become the nation’s first Muslim U.S. senator if victorious, narrowly captured the Democratic nomination in August by defeating moderate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a race that exposed ideological rifts within the party. While Stevens won Wayne County during the primary, the two former rivals plan to campaign together on Sunday, according to The Guardian.
National Democrats have moved to shore up support. Former President Barack Obama appeared alongside El-Sayed in Detroit on Saturday, comparing the attacks on the candidate’s faith and name to the conspiracy theories he encountered during his own presidency. “We have seen this movie before. I starred in it,” Obama told the audience, as reported by HuffPost. “This stuff didn’t work on me. Not in Michigan. It’s not going to work on Abdul.”
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have each transferred $1 million to El-Sayed’s campaign, while Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have voiced support despite acknowledging disagreements on Middle East policy, The Guardian reported.
Recent polling indicates a narrow contest. A Marist survey last week showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 50 percent to 48 percent among likely voters, while a Michigan State University poll found El-Sayed ahead 48 percent to 44 percent, HuffPost reported. With Senate control hanging on the outcome, voters across Michigan will determine on Tuesday whether the progressive nominee can withstand the barrage and secure the seat.
