Michigan Senate race targets Muslim candidate
Abdul El-Sayed faces escalating attacks from President Trump and allies as his faith becomes a central issue in the state's competitive election.
By Tyler Khalil ·
The fight over the Michigan Senate seat has intensified with direct attacks on Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's Muslim faith. Republican challenger Mike Rogers and President Donald Trump have questioned the candidate's loyalty and national security credentials, a move that local leaders say is driving a surge in threats against the state's Arab and Muslim communities.
At a campaign event in Detroit, Jake Lang, a far-right activist, used a bullhorn to shout anti-Muslim slogans outside a rally featuring former President Barack Obama. Lang, wearing a bulletproof vest, yelled, “Get the f*** out, Muslims,” while his associates held signs for Rogers. One ally, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, serves as an official faith adviser to the Rogers campaign. Sewell helped organize an anti-Muslim march in Dearborn, a suburb with a large Arab and Muslim population, in August.
Rogers defended his strategy by framing the issue as a matter of national security. He told reporters after a debate with El-Sayed earlier this month, “This is not about the way you pray; it’s the way you think.” The campaign did not respond to requests for comment regarding its connection to Sewell. Rogers has also accused El-Sayed of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Last month, Rogers agreed with a social media post calling El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, a “terrorist.”
President Trump has joined the critique, repeatedly misidentifying El-Sayed's name as Mohammed and labeling the Democrat a “jihadist.” The president suggested El-Sayed would be a physical threat to the Capitol and should be required to pass through a metal detector. At a recent rally in Port Huron, Trump spent most of his two-hour speech attacking the candidate. Shouts of “traitor” erupted from the crowd. David Beamer, whose son died in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, spoke at the event and said, “A birth certificate doesn’t make you an American.”
National Republicans have joined the chorus. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas described El-Sayed as a “jihadist leprechaun” and warned that if El-Sayed supported the Muslim Brotherhood, “there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr incorrectly claimed that Arabs do not produce literature or science and “don’t win Nobel Prizes.” He argued that the Muslim Brotherhood destroyed Arab civilization. Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy cited Dearborn as an example of what could happen to his state if Democrats won.
Local officials report a daily barrage of threats. Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, said the city receives numerous threats via social media, 911 calls, and call centers. “The general public is unaware of how many threats are aimed towards the city of Dearborn on a daily basis,” Hammoud said. He described El-Sayed as a son of the state with two doctorates and called his election the best response to fascism. Suehaila Amen, an Arab and Muslim advocate in the area, said the current climate is worse than the period after the 2001 attacks. “It’s not just some loser that lives around the block,” she said. “It’s the loser who lives in the White House.”
El-Sayed, who is of Egyptian descent and a father of two, has described the attacks as “deflections and deceptions.” A survey by Michigan State University found that 38 percent of potential voters said a candidate being a Muslim would make them less likely to support their campaign. At a rally in Port Huron, Brian Pannebecker, a retiree from an auto manufacturing company, said, “I don’t care if they’re paying a buck and a half more a gallon for gasoline. That is no excuse to vote for a socialist Islamist for the US Senate.”
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who represents Dearborn, said she fears for her two sons amid the rise in hate speech. “It’s awful to live this way right now,” she said. Earlier this year, three people were killed outside a mosque complex in San Diego in a hate crime. Abdelhalim Abdelrahman of American Muslims for Palestine called the attacks on El-Sayed “disgusting Islamophobia” that distracts from administration shortcomings, including the war in Iran.
The race remains close. Advocates say their communities are continuing to organize and engage in civic life despite the rhetoric. El-Sayed holds a medical degree and a doctorate in public health. The candidates are set to face off in the November election.
