Trump Brands Abdul El-Sayed a 'Jihadist Lunatic' and Calls for a 'Special Metal Detector' if He Reaches Senate

Donald Trump used one of his final rallies before the midterms to call Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a 'jihadist lunatic', telling an Iowa crowd that Congress would need 'a special metal detector' for him if he won.

El-Sayed, a practising Muslim born in the US, is fighting a competitive Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers that could help decide control of the chamber.

Trump has repeatedly labelled him a 'jihadist' and a Muslim Brotherhood member, claims the AP has described as false. El-Sayed denies any ties to the group and says Trump can 'call me senator after November'.

Final Rally Attack in Iowa

Trump spoke in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday 1 November, two days before Americans vote in the midterm elections. He repeatedly referred to El-Sayed as a 'jihadist', the Guardian reported.

'If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you're crazy,' Trump told the crowd. He said that if El-Sayed were elected, Congress would have to 'get a special metal detector for Abdul'.

The Guardian described the remarks as 'brazenly racist'. Trump offered no evidence for his claims about El-Sayed.

Trump then held up El-Sayed's Republican opponent as the alternative. He called Rogers 'apple pie' and said the country needed 'a little apple pie', not 'the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood'.

A Pattern of Attacks

The Dubuque remarks were not new. At a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on 25 October, Trump said: 'I'm here to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator, and that's the fact. We're not going to let that happen,' the AP reported.

At that rally, Trump also said El-Sayed would have to pass through a metal detector before entering the Senate and compared opposition to him with the passengers who fought back against the 9/11 hijackers on United Flight 93, Newsweek reported. Trump has also referred to El-Sayed as 'Muhammad' rather than 'Abdul'.

The AP described Trump's claims that El-Sayed is a jihadist and a Muslim Brotherhood member as false, and said Trump had also falsely suggested that his family has ties to terrorists. El-Sayed has denied any ties to the Brotherhood. He was born in the US and would be the nation's first Muslim senator if elected.

The head of Arab Americans for Trump told the AP the comments were 'out of line' and 'racist'. Rogers, who calls El-Sayed extreme, said on NBC's Meet the Press that he has 'never called him a terrorist', according to the AP.

El-Sayed Hits Back

El-Sayed has answered by turning the spotlight on Trump's own foreign ties. Speaking at a rally in Grand Rapids on 25 October, he said: 'I get that the President takes personal offence to my first name. He doesn't mind as much when it's the Saudis who are funding his son-in-law's private equity.'

'Doesn't seem to mind as much when it's the Qataris who are giving them a $400 million private jet,' he went on. 'He just seems to have trouble pronouncing it when it's my name.'

'I don't care how he pronounces my name,' El-Sayed said, according to Newsweek. 'Because he can just go on and call me senator after November.'

The following day, he told supporters, according to the AP: 'There are always a few small people who want to make America small like them. They have nothing to say about solving the problems in your life. Their whole campaign strategy is to talk about me.'

A Closely Watched Senate Race

Michigan's Senate contest is one of the most closely watched in the country. October polls showed a tight race: an InsiderAdvantage poll from 21 to 22 October put El-Sayed on 47 per cent and Rogers on 46 per cent, while a Marist survey from 15 to 18 October had El-Sayed ahead by 50 per cent to 48 per cent, according to Newsweek.

A New York Times/Siena poll of likely voters, released on 1 November, showed a wider gap, with El-Sayed at 53 per cent and Rogers at 42 per cent, Political Wire reported.

Republicans hold 53 Senate seats to the Democrats' 47, including two independents who caucus with Democrats, and 35 seats are up for election on Tuesday, 3 November, Euronews reported. Polls suggest Democrats have a viable chance of taking the chamber.

The race has also split Michigan Democrats. Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the August primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers after a row over an outside group's ad linking rising prices to US military support for Israel's war in Gaza. 'Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign,' Stevens said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned her move, the Guardian reported.

Trump praised Stevens in Dubuque, calling her endorsement 'an incredible thing' and saying he would like her to join the Republican Party. He told the crowd he had barely watched football that weekend because he was 'going to these damn rallies all over the place'.

He also urged the crowd to treat Tuesday as a vote on him. 'Pretend I'm on the ballot,' he said. 'Essentially, I am on the ballot.'