President Trump escalated his attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) on Wednesday, branding him a “terrible” contender as the progressive locks horns with former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) in a race that polling suggests is too close to call.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Mohammed El-Sayed is a terrible Candidate for the Dumocrats,” using his customary nickname for the Democratic Party. El-Sayed’s full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, and he is a Michigan native of Egyptian descent.
The president praised Rogers as “an extremely good” candidate but claimed El-Sayed “goes back to days of the Jihad,” adding that the Democrat is “a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer.” Trump also sought to equate El-Sayed with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, asserting the two are “no different.”
“Mohammed’s Values are not exactly those of Michiganders, or those of our Great United States of America! He is WRONG for Michigan, and WRONG for America,” the president wrote.
El-Sayed, a former director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services, defeated centrist Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the Democratic primary. He has campaigned on Medicare for All, higher taxes on capital gains and billionaires, and a ban on corporate PAC money in politics. He has also called for ending U.S. military aid to Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and has denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide.”
Decision Desk HQ, a data partner of The Hill, gave El-Sayed a 70% chance of beating Rogers as of Wednesday, though the race remains competitive. Nine days after the primary, the Democrat held a narrow 51% probability of winning.
Rogers, who represented Michigan’s 8th Congressional District for 14 years, broke with Trump on the president’s trade war with Canada on Wednesday. In a new ad, the Republican called for ending the dispute “now,” a shift from his earlier defense of tariffs on Canadian imports as “necessary.” Trump suggested Rogers was directing his message at Canadian officials, telling reporters, “I viewed [Rogers] as saying that he thinks Canada should make a deal.”
The president has repeatedly targeted El-Sayed since the primary, while Rogers seeks to flip the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). On Monday, El-Sayed challenged Trump to “come to Michigan” and campaign for Rogers, saying, “Your candidate can’t speak for himself. [Rogers] doesn’t have anything to say. Clearly, you are the answer, and you should tell everybody why they should imagine you on the ballot.”
The Michigan race is drawing national attention as both parties vie for control of the Senate. For more on the dynamics, see the first debate between the two candidates and El-Sayed’s foreign policy stance.
