President Donald Trump took the stage in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday and unleashed his fiercest attack yet on Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, calling him a "Jihadist Member of the Muslim Brotherhood" who wants to impose Sharia law on the United States.
"Heading to Michigan to fight a Jihadist Member of the Muslim Brotherhood — A man who should never be allowed inside the Halls of our Great and Beautiful Capital Building, in Washington, D.C.," Trump posted on Truth Social about 90 minutes before the rally. "Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed wants our Country to go to Sharia Law. If it ever does, he should be the first that's tried!"
He opened his remarks at McMorran Place by saying he was there to defeat El-Sayed, who is running for Michigan's open US Senate seat against Republican former Representative Mike Rogers.
"Absolutely" disavows the Brotherhood
El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, has said he "absolutely" disavows the Muslim Brotherhood. The attacks on his background and faith have become the defining feature of one of the most closely watched and expensive Senate races in the country, with control of the Senate at stake in the November 3 midterms.
Former President Barack Obama, who rallied Democrats in Detroit on Saturday alongside El-Sayed, defended him directly. "Whenever a movement builds to challenge that broken system, the people who benefit from the status quo will say and do anything to stop that train from coming," Obama said. "They will use lies and they will use fear, and they will use division, and they may even use your name or your faith to somehow suggest that you are dangerous and less than trustworthy, and less patriotic and less American than they are."
"We have seen this movie before. I starred in it. I've got a long form birth certificate to prove it. This stuff didn't work on me, not in Michigan. It's not going to work on Abdul."
Tariffs with Canada, war in Iran
Before taking the stage, Trump spoke with FOX 2 Detroit about the two issues Michigan voters keep raising: the tariff war with Canada and the war in Iran. He said a tariff deal with Canada was in the works and could take months — but could also be resolved before the election. On Iran, he said the war would not be resolved until it was certain the country had no nuclear capabilities.
"I'm going to make a great deal. I'm a longterm person; I'm not a short term person," Trump said.
Rogers also took the stage in Port Huron, as did Representative John James, who is running for governor, and Representative Lisa McClain, who told the crowd that "Democrats want to defund our police, they want to let criminals into our neighborhoods... in Michigan we love our police."
A state at the centre of the midterms
Michigan has become the centre of the midterm campaign in its final days. Obama's Detroit rally drew thousands on Saturday; on Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders was also campaigning for El-Sayed in Grand Rapids, Alpena and Ann Arbor. Trump countered with Port Huron, a border town where the US-Canada tariff standoff hits local jobs directly.
Early voting is already under way across Michigan. The open Senate seat — and the governor's race — will help decide whether Republicans keep their grip on Washington or Democrats break through on November 3.
Why it matters
Trump did not come to Port Huron to talk policy. He came to make El-Sayed's name, faith and background the issue — and to do it in the rawest terms he has used yet in this race. With Obama defending El-Sayed in Detroit the day before and Sanders on the trail the same day, Michigan's Senate race is now a national proxy fight over identity, religion and who gets to belong in American politics.
Reporting based on the Times Herald, the Detroit Free Press and FOX 2 Detroit.