Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed launched a blistering critique of President Trump on Sunday, accusing him of treating the U.S. Constitution with the same disregard he might show for a piece of toilet paper in his personal bathroom.
In an interview with Al Sharpton on MSNBC's PoliticsNation, El-Sayed was pressed on the wave of attacks from Trump and Republicans targeting his family background and Muslim faith—a pattern he says mirrors the treatment of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
“It's disgusting and it's un-American,” El-Sayed said. “The thing about Donald Trump is that he has about as much regard for the Constitution as he has for a piece of toilet paper in his personal bathroom, because that's basically what he's done with it.”
The Democratic nominee expanded on his point, emphasizing the Constitution's role as a unifying legal foundation. “He doesn't understand all of us who believe in an America under the rule of law guaranteed to us by that hallowed document under which all of us live,” El-Sayed said. “It's a document that guarantees us the right to pray as we choose to pray or not pray at all. To him, America is a country that is about a certain group of people rather than a rule of law that brings us all together.”
El-Sayed drew a direct line between the attacks on him and those on Omar, who is currently under federal investigation for alleged immigration fraud. “When he goes after Congresswoman Omar, when he goes after me, he's going after that idea of America,” he said.
Trump has escalated his rhetoric against El-Sayed in recent weeks. In a Truth Social post, the former president called El-Sayed “a Jihadist Member of the Muslim Brotherhood” and claimed the Senate candidate wanted “our Country to go to Sharia Law.” The attacks are part of a broader pattern of Trump targeting Democratic opponents, including in his efforts to question El-Sayed's security clearance earlier in the campaign.
El-Sayed's Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, has also leaned into the allegations, pointing to campaign contributions from individuals with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and claiming El-Sayed “pledged his support” to the organization. The Michigan Democrat has categorically denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, and his campaign has dismissed the claims as smears.
The Senate race has become a flashpoint in the national battle over identity and patriotism. El-Sayed's comments come as Trump continues to attack Democratic figures on similar grounds, including his feud with Sen. Lisa Murkowski and his broader struggle to ease voter anxiety before the midterms.
For El-Sayed, the attacks are not just personal—they represent a fundamental disagreement over what America stands for. “This is about whether we are a country that lives by the rule of law or by the whims of a strongman,” he said. “I believe in the former, and I'll fight for it.”
