Abdul El-Sayed responded to Donald Trump after the president attacked the Michigan Senate candidate on Truth Social, repeatedly referring to him as “Mohammed El-Sayed.” On Thursday morning, El-Sayed accused Trump of using his name and Muslim faith to distract voters from rising costs and other economic concerns.
Abdul El-Sayed reacts to Donald Trump’s recent attack
In a Wednesday evening Truth Social post, Donald Trump referred to the Democrat as “Mohammed El-Sayed.” The president paired that with a harsh label, calling him a “RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer.” El-Sayed answered on X with four blunt words of his own: “He knows my name is Abdul. He says it everyday.” He then widened his criticism, arguing the attack was never really about him alone.
“But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us,” El-Sayed wrote. “He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office. He thinks we don’t know any better. It’s time for change.” The exchange landed hours before Michigan’s Senate debate the next evening, where El-Sayed met Republican Rep. Mike Rogers onstage for the first time. Trump has thrown his support behind Rogers in the race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters.
El-Sayed, whose full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents. The physician and former Wayne County health director beat centrist Rep. Haley Stevens in this year’s Democratic primary. Additionally, this is not the first time Donald Trump has gone after Abdul El-Sayed’s name and faith. In August, he shared side-by-side photos of himself with Melania Trump and El-Sayed with his wife, writing “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s.” El-Sayed has built his campaign around “Medicare for All,” higher taxes on billionaires, a PAC spending ban, and lower everyday costs.
