With Michigan’s Nov. 3 Senate election approaching, President Donald Trump accused Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Muslim Brotherhood ties and jihadism during a White House exchange Friday. He also praised Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, saying he would be “a great senator.”
Trump called El-Sayed a “jihadist” and a “vicious, violent jihadist.” He invoked comments El-Sayed made “two years ago” but did not identify them. The White House video of the exchange shows Trump offering no evidence for his accusations.
The remarks follow a dispute over El-Sayed’s answer at an Oct. 17 town hall in Caro. Asked whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, El-Sayed replied, “Sure. Yes, absolutely,” in a video posted by his campaign. Rogers later disputed that answer during an Oct. 18 CNN interview. EconoTimes previously covered the candidates’ dispute over the recorded response.
The Michigan Department of State lists El-Sayed as the Democratic candidate and Rogers as the Republican candidate for a six-year U.S. Senate term in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
