Donald Trump intensified his anti-Muslim rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday. Trump called El-Sayed a “jihadist” and questioned his loyalty to the United States. Bishara Bahbah, a former ally, said, “The president’s statements are out of line. They are crossing a red line. They are racist.”

Trump escalates anti-Muslim attacks against El-Sayed in Michigan

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Donald Trump intensified his anti-Muslim rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday, portraying him as a threat to national security.

The president also questioned his loyalty to the United States in remarks that drew a sharp rebuke from a former top Arab American ally. Trump called El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official, a “jihadist” who was “on the side of the terrorists” and would “have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate.”

He also repeatedly invoked 9/11, drawing a comparison between stopping El-Sayed from entering the Senate chamber and the passengers who fought back against the hijackers aboard United Flight 93, AP reported.

El-Sayed, who would become the nation’s first Muslim senator if elected, has called attacks on his loyalty to the country “shameful” and repeatedly denied any ties to extremist groups.

The Republican president’s remarks were condemned by Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, the group that helped lead the president’s outreach to Arab American voters in 2024. “The president’s statements are out of line,” he said in a phone interview. “They are crossing a red line. They are racist.”

Trump also reiterated his apparent love for buxom bums and encouraged the crowd to compliment rapper Nicki Minaj’s behind. The comments about Minaj’s derriere came as he explained his recent observation on the Republican Ohio senator Jon Husted’s rear end.

Earlier in October, Trump said of the former college football player: “I don’t do this with men very often. I started examining his body, because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole – and then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He’s got these, like, claws.”

“You are a great athlete,” Trump also said to Husted. “Congratulations.” Trump was speaking at the rally to support Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican Senate candidate.

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