El-Sayed dares Trump to Michigan, believing the trip will backfire on Rogers
President Donald Trump plans to take his midterm campaign to Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday for Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers after weeks of assailing Democratic challenger Abdul El-Sayed at rallies across the country. Rogers is a former congressman whom Trump has backed. The Nov. 3 race for retiring Democrat Gary Peters’ seat is an open-seat opportunity, and Republicans see a chance to pick up that seat on Election Day. El-Sayed, a former public health official in Detroit’s Wayne County, has urged Trump to come and believes the trip would backfire on Rogers.
The stop follows former Democratic President Barack Obama’s appearances Saturday in Michigan and Ohio for Democratic candidates. It is the latest stop on Trump’s packed campaign schedule to bolster Republicans on the midterm ballot as the GOP is weighed down by voters’ frustration with the economy and the war with Iran. Unlike his earlier trips to Republican-controlled states, where his party was on defense, the GOP has not won a Senate race in Michigan for more than three decades.
El-Sayed has taunted Trump, encouraging him to come to Michigan in the belief that a visit would backfire on Rogers. “Donald, if you’re watching, don’t wuss out, man,” El-Sayed said. The Associated Press described El-Sayed as a progressive who won the August primary and reported that he has said the country needs to “turn the page on Donald Trump.”
Trump has described El-Sayed as a “jihadist,” rhetoric that Democrats have denounced as an attack on his faith. El-Sayed was born in the United States to Egyptian immigrant parents and would be the first Muslim senator if elected. Republicans have portrayed him as a dangerous radical.
The Associated Press reported that Trump’s claim that the Democratic nominee is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was false. The group was founded in the 1920s in Egypt and has inspired Islamist political movements around the Mideast. In January, Trump’s administration labeled three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. Trump has also referred to El-Sayed as “Mohammed” and said he “goes back to the days of the jihad.”
During their second and final general election debate, Rogers questioned El-Sayed’s loyalty to the United States. “Are you for America, or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?” Rogers asked. El-Sayed called the questioning “shameful” and said, “I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray.” Rogers denied that his criticisms were rooted in religion, saying “you can pray any way you want.”
El-Sayed has faced criticism for his own rhetoric, particularly when he said “hurt people hurt people” after an attack on a synagogue in the Detroit area. The attacker had lost four relatives in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon the week earlier. El-Sayed later apologized, saying he was not trying to justify what happened. “To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry,” he said. “That was not my intention.”
The significance of El-Sayed’s candidacy has grown beyond Michigan, with Republicans casting him as a symbol of a radicalizing Democratic Party. Meanwhile, progressives hope that he will help demonstrate their clout in a swing state, which could shape how the 2028 presidential primary unfolds.
El-Sayed and Rogers bring prior campaign records
El-Sayed previously served as a public health official in Detroit’s Wayne County and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018. Rogers lost the 2024 Senate race to then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin by less than a percentage point and now faces El-Sayed in the Nov. 3 contest.