Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is firing back at President Trump’s rhetoric about his Muslim faith and middle name, telling the president he is about to be “Senator Mohamed to you, bro.”
Mr. El-Sayed made the quip at a campaign event in Grand Rapids after Mr. Trump appeared in Port Huron on behalf of Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
The president is labeling Mr. El-Sayed a jihadist and using his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, or simply “Mohamed,” instead of the names the Democrat typically uses.
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“I don’t care how he pronounces my name,” Mr. El-Sayed said late Sunday. “I don’t even care that he remembers my whole name. Because he can just go on and call me ‘senator’ after November. I will be Senator Mohamed to you, bro.”
If elected, Mr. El-Sayed would become the first Muslim member of the Senate. He holds a narrow lead over Mr. Rogers in most polling, though the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is tight.
Mr. Trump is attacking Mr. El-Sayed in personal terms at campaign rallies and on social media.
He says the candidate is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, citing past social media posts and family members’ comments about the Sunni Islamist, though the nominee denies ties to the brotherhood.
Mr. Trumpsaid on social media that Mr. El-Sayed “should never be allowed inside the Halls of our Great and Beautiful Capital Building, in Washington, D.C.,” and “wants our Country to go to Sharia Law.”
Mr. El-Sayed said Mr. Trump is using Islam as a political weapon in the Michigan race but does not seem to mind doing business with Muslims overseas.
“I get that the President of the United States takes personal offense to my first name,” El-Sayed said at his rally. “He doesn’t mind as much when it’s a shared name from the Saudis who are funding his son-in-law’s private equity. [He] doesn’t seem to mind as much when it’s the Qataris who are giving him a $400 million private jet. He just seems to have trouble pronouncing it when it’s my name.”
Mr. Rogers, meanwhile, has not gone as far as Mr. Trump in his rhetoric against Mr. El-Sayed.
“I’ve never called him a terrorist,” Mr. Rogers told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “This election is about me versus Abdul. I mean, he’s a Democrat-Socialist-of-America-aligned candidate who has these pretty radical support groups that don’t like America. I think those are issues people ought to decide their election on.”
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