PORT HURON, Mich. — Donald Trump escalated his political rhetoric during a campaign stop in Port Huron on Sunday, repeatedly attacking Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed with unsubstantiated claims and comparing the upcoming election to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Campaigning in support of Republican nominee and former Rep. Mike Rogers, Trump branded El-Sayed a “jihadist” and alleged he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group founded in Egypt. Trump presented no evidence to support the claims, NBC News reported. If elected on Nov. 3, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight just like Todd did to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol,” Trump said, referencing Todd Beamer, a Michigan native who died fighting hijackers aboard United Flight 93 during the 2001 attacks.
Birther-style accusations on stage
Trump also claimed El-Sayed should undergo special security checks, telling rally attendees that “he would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” according to NBC News.
Trump was joined on stage by Todd Beamer’s father, David Beamer, who echoed the 9/11 comparisons and challenged El-Sayed’s citizenship status. Beamer contended that having an American birth certificate “doesn’t make you an American” and asserted that El-Sayed sought to “invade and occupy our country.” Both El-Sayed and Rogers were born in Michigan, NBC News noted.
The rhetoric mirrors previous attacks popularized by Trump, who spent years promoting disproven conspiracy theories that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Obama, who campaigned in Detroit on Saturday for El-Sayed and other Democratic candidates, addressed those parallels directly.
“We have seen this movie before,” Obama told the Detroit crowd, according to CNBC. “I starred in it … This stuff didn’t work on me. Not in Michigan. It’s not going to work on Abdul.”
Clash over allegations and candidate records
El-Sayed has repeatedly rejected accusations that he has links to the Muslim Brotherhood, publicly denouncing the organization and accusing opponents of targeting his Islamic faith. During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Oct. 11, El-Sayed gave a direct “no” when asked if he or his relatives held connections to the group, Fox News reported. At a recent town hall, El-Sayed pushed back against a voter who questioned his background, asserting that critics wrongly assume his religion compromises his allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.
Rogers addressed the controversy during an interview Sunday on “Meet the Press,” clashing with moderator Kristen Welker over his campaign’s focus on El-Sayed’s background. Rogers has pointed to a reported 2012 letter supporting former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi that listed El-Sayed as a signatory, as well as social media posts from El-Sayed’s half-sister discussing past family ties to the movement.
When Welker questioned Trump’s description of El-Sayed as a terrorist, Rogers sought to distance himself from the exact phrasing. “I’ve never called him a terrorist,” Rogers said, while arguing that El-Sayed had not adequately answered questions regarding his past associations.
With Republicans clinging to a narrow 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate, the open seat in Michigan remains locked in a dead heat. How voters respond to the sharp attacks and whether the rhetoric swings undecided voters will be tested when ballots are tallied on Election Day.
