Trump Targets El-Sayed With Anti-Muslim Rhetoric at Michigan Rally

President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed during a campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, targeting the epidemiologist's Muslim faith as Republicans seek to retain congressional control in the November 3 midterm elections. Trump portrayed El-Sayed as a security threat while campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in their closely contested Michigan race.

According to NBC News, Trump accused El-Sayed of ties to extremist groups and invoked the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to frame the Senate contest. Both El-Sayed and Rogers were born in Michigan, and El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Trump questioned El-Sayed's eligibility to serve in the Senate and called for additional security screening. His remarks continued a campaign against the Democratic nominee that has focused heavily on religion and allegations of extremist connections.

Trump argued that El-Sayed's alleged support for jihadists should disqualify him from serving in Congress. He also compared the candidate to a security threat who should face restrictions on air travel and access to the Senate.

Trump said, "Anyone with that record of support for jihadists would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane. They certainly should not give him a seat in the United States Senate," according to NBC News.

The president continued, "He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate. I want him to have a metal detector." NBC News reported that Trump also introduced David Beamer, whose son, Todd Beamer, died aboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.

Trump linked the Michigan election to the attacks, urging supporters to resist what he characterized as an extremist threat. David Beamer, who has appeared in campaign advertisements for Rogers, echoed that comparison in his remarks at the rally.

Beamer said, "What has changed? Well, one thing is 9/11 was a surprise attack. What’s going on right now in our country and here in Michigan?

It’s not a surprise. We can see the attack coming that culminates in this battleground state on Tuesday, November the 3rd," as reported by NBC News.

He added, "What’s different this time is the enemy has not come from abroad. The enemy is right here among us, local terrorists, local citizens that want to demolish our country," according to the same report.

Beamer also challenged El-Sayed's American identity despite the candidate's birth certificate confirming his citizenship. He contrasted El-Sayed with Rogers and argued that citizenship documents alone did not establish national allegiance.

Beamer said, "Abdul has a birth certificate. The birth certificate says he’s a citizen of America. You know what? A birth certificate doesn’t make you an American," NBC News reported.

He continued, "He has blood that’s red. However, he has chosen to remove any strain of the white and blue part in his life. We cannot, cannot allow this man to invade and occupy our country."

El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment on the rally remarks. The candidate has previously rejected accusations of allegiance to organizations outside the US Constitution.

During a town hall the previous week, El-Sayed responded to an attendee who asked him to condemn the Muslim Brotherhood. NBC News reported that he challenged the assumption that his religion implied political allegiance to the organization.

El-Sayed said, "You assume ... that because I am Muslim, that somehow I would have some allegiance to something that is not our Constitution," according to NBC News.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928. NBC News reported that the Trump administration has designated certain chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt as terrorist organizations, while El-Sayed has repeatedly denied connections to the group and publicly denounced it.

Rogers addressed Trump's accusations during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. When asked whether he agreed with the president's descriptions of El-Sayed as a Muslim Brotherhood jihadist and violent terrorist, the Republican nominee shifted attention to the candidates themselves.

Rogers said, "me versus Abdul," and added, "I've never called him a terrorist," according to NBC News.

Rogers has previously questioned El-Sayed about his mother, Fatten Elkomy, who worked decades ago at a charity later identified by the US government as supporting terrorist groups. NBC News reported that the charity was subsequently closed and Elkomy was not accused of wrongdoing at the time.

The Michigan confrontation unfolded amid broader disputes over election administration. CNN reported that a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressed skepticism about the Justice Department's effort to prevent California officials from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots associated with people the federal government suspects are noncitizens.

The judges questioned the reliability of the government's voter information and whether federal authorities could intervene in California's election procedures. According to CNN, the state had already processed more than 300,000 midterm ballots when the panel heard arguments, and the court said it would issue its decision as quickly as possible.

Trump also questioned election integrity during his Michigan rally, raising concerns about vote counters without presenting evidence of wrongdoing, CNN reported. The president's campaign schedule included a Monday appearance in Mississippi, followed by two rallies in Texas on Tuesday and additional stops in Ohio, Florida and Iowa ahead of the November 3 election.