They voted for Trump in 2024. Now he’s calling their Senate candidate a ‘jihadist.’

Donald Trump has begun calling Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a "jihadist" and a Muslim Brotherhood member, assertions MS NOW describes as baseless. The attacks may cost Republicans a rare chance to hold onto Arab and Muslim voters in a swing state, according to local Arab and Muslim leaders. If elected in November, the Democrat would become the first Muslim in the U.S. Senate.

Many of those voters backed Trump in 2024 to protest the Biden administration's Israel policy, and he won close to half the vote in Michigan's majority-Arab precincts, research suggests. Dearborn imam Husham Al-Husainy says most Muslim Trump supporters among his acquaintances now lean toward El-Sayed rather than Republican Mike Rogers. At a Georgia rally Trump mocked El-Sayed's name, and on Truth Social he uses the candidate's middle name, Mohammed. Rogers has falsely said El-Sayed believes America deserved 9/11.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says the party never made real outreach, citing comments by gubernatorial nominee John James about Shiite marchers. Trump's endorsement of Benjamin Netanyahu this week angered Bishara Bahbah, who called it a betrayal and expects consequences in 2028 as well.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →