President Trump used Islamophobic remarks to motivate Michigan Republicans on Sunday. At a rally in Port Huron, he claimed Dr. Abdul El-Sayed would "invite hordes of jihadis to our shores" if elected. Trump also praised his own candidate, Mike Rogers, while stoking fear among the 4,000 supporters who gathered there.
The president contended that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim, would "invite hordes of jihadis to our shores" as he sought to bolster the G.O.P. candidate in a tight Senate race.
President Trump turned to Islamophobic stereotypes to motivate Michigan Republicans on Sunday, claiming at a rally that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee, if elected, would bring a wave of jihadists to the United States.
"If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will open the floodgates and invite hordes of jihadis to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas," Mr. Trump told more than 4,000 supporters gathered in Port Huron, a working-class, waterfront city in a deep-red congressional district 60 miles northeast of Detroit.
Mr. Trump called Dr. El-Sayed, whose family immigrated from Egypt, a "jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member," a baseless claim. He then contrasted Dr. El-Sayed, a Muslim who was born in the United States, with his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, who is white and also born in the United States.
"I call him apple pie," Mr. Trump said of Mr. Rogers, who is 63. "He's like, perfect, this guy. He's like central casting. He's what your state is all about."
Mr. Trump's comments, coming in a key midterm battleground nine days before the elections, underscored the dark themes and personal vilification he and his allies have embraced as part of their closing pitch. And while he has often used crude and racist language, Mr. Trump's message in Michigan seemed aimed at overtly stoking a fear of Muslims to get voters to the polls.
But a broader question about Mr. Trump's rally here -- which followed several in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, among other stops -- is whether his presence helps or hurts Republican turnout in a year when polls show deep dissatisfaction with the president. His audience in Port Huron seemed enthusiastic, and thousands strained to take Mr. Trump's picture as he took to the stage. But he held the rally in a conservative district of a state that pollsters believe is swinging back to Democrats.
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