President Donald Trump sharpened his anti-Muslim attacks against Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed during a campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, going so far as to suggest that Christmas would be cancelled if the progressive physician won the election.
Trump visited the Midwestern state to shore up support for Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections on November 3. His remarks largely focused on Michigan’s high-stakes Senate contest, which is one of about seven toss-up races nationwide. El-Sayed faces Republican candidate Mike Rogers for the state’s open seat, a race considered crucial for Republicans trying to retain control of the 100-member Senate. Currently, Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, with only 35 Senate positions up for election in 2026.
From the podium inside the McMorran Place hockey arena, Trump leveled unfounded allegations against El-Sayed, referring to him as a “jihadist” and suggesting he should pass through a metal detector before entering the Senate chamber. While Trump has repeatedly targeted El-Sayed’s Muslim identity in recent weeks, including misrepresenting the Democrat’s name, Sunday’s speech took his rhetoric further. Trump falsely claimed that El-Sayed wanted to impose Islamic law in the United States and accused him of being a Muslim Brotherhood member. El-Sayed is a US-born citizen and former public health official who has pledged to uphold the Constitution, and there is no evidence linking him to the Muslim Brotherhood or any foreign organization.
El-Sayed has largely dismissed the anti-Muslim rhetoric as an effort to create distractions, emphasizing his focus on domestic issues such as lowering the cost of living and expanding access to healthcare. Outside the venue, demonstrators gathered to protest the president, denouncing him as a felon and pedophile.
Despite his plummeting approval ratings and voter frustration over economic conditions, Rogers appeared alongside Trump and embraced the president’s support. Rogers set the tone for the attacks earlier in the event by claiming El-Sayed was connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and attempting to link him to the Democratic Socialists for America, though El-Sayed is not a member of the left-wing group. A survey by the research firm Marketing Resource Group indicated earlier in the month that only 35 percent of voters in Michigan view Trump positively.
Trump also addressed the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran, which has driven the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Michigan to $4.83, up from $2.91 before the conflict began. Nearly eight months after the war launched on February 28, Trump expressed no regrets about the decision, defending the conflict as a necessary measure to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Despite economic anxiety among voters, Trump boasted about the profits generated by US oil companies from tightening global energy supplies, declaring that the country is making hundreds of billions of dollars.
Lines of supporters stretched several blocks outside the venue, filling the arena and demonstrating that the president retains a strong ability to mobilize his core MAGA base despite mounting anger over inflation and foreign policy.
