Abdul El-Sayed’s win in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary is already drawing bigoted attacks from the right.
President Trump called El-Sayed a “Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel” Wednesday morning, saying that his victory was “Great News for the Republican Party,” in a post on Truth Social. Vice President JD Vance followed Trump’s lead and attacked El-Sayed in passing in a press conference.
“We don’t want the next administration, whoever, you know, God forbid you’re going to have President El-Sayed in three years. We don’t want him to undo all the incredible work that we’ve been doing when we’ve been taking out the fraudsters and saving the American people money,” Vance said.
El-Sayed’s Republican opponent this November, Representative Mike Rogers, released a statement alluding to El-Sayed’s Muslim faith.
“I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11,” Rogers said in his statement.
AIPAC, which spent nearly $32 million supporting El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, signaled Wednesday that it would support Rogers in November, saying in a statement, “Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee Wednesday morning called El-Sayed “the Most Radical Candidate in America,” and referred to him by his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, a departure from its previous press releases.
“El-Sayed is the most radical Democrat Senate nominee ever. His support of terrorist organizations, socialist policies, and the defunding of law enforcement makes him dangerous and ultimately disqualified from serving,” NRSC chair and Senator Tim Scott said in the press release. “Michigan has had two Democrat Senators for decades, so we cannot take anything for granted, but we will do everything we can to make sure El-Sayed never steps foot in the U.S. Senate.”
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso piled on, calling El-Sayed dangerous, scary, and an extremist on the Senate floor Wednesday.
The NRSC has already released an attack ad against El-Sayed full of dog whistles, alleging that he supports the Muslim Brotherhood and believes America deserved 9/11.
The NRSC debuts first attack ad in the US Senate Michigan race against Abdul El-Sayed pic.twitter.com/d3N3RB3CGT
At a press conference on Wednesday, El-Sayed brushed off the blatantly Islamophobic attacks, saying, “That’s the only play they got.
“They’re gonna point at me, they’re gonna point at my name, like, ‘Wow, he’s different.’ That’s the best you got? You can’t actually talk about what you want to do? My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is not taking us to war. My name is not the reason you can’t afford your groceries,” El-Sayed said. “So, [Rogers] can point to my name all he wants, but I’ll also tell you this: I’ve been an Abdul in Michigan my whole life. This is like the best place in the world to be Abdul, you know why? Because Michiganders are, they’re big-hearted.”
El-Sayed on Islamophobia: "That's the only play they got. They're gonna point at me, they're gonna point at my name, like, 'Wow, he's different.' That's the best you got? You can't actually talk about what you want to do? My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is now… pic.twitter.com/MgvN8uirhq
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