Anyone with that record of support for jihadists would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane. They certainly should not give him a seat in the United States Senate,
former President Donald Trump said Sunday as he rallied in Port Huron, Michigan, in support of Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, NBC News reported.
Trump alleged that Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee locked in a dead heat with Rogers, is a jihadist
and a Muslim Brotherhood member,
while describing Rogers as apple pie.
Trump went on to say that El-Sayed would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate. I want him to have a metal detector.
The former president linked El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928. The Trump administration has designated certain chapters of the group in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists. El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any ties to the organization, which he has denounced.
David Beamer Draws 9/11 Parallels on Stage
Trump introduced speaker David Beamer, whose son Todd Beamer died on hijacked United Flight 93 during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to draw a comparison between that event and the Michigan Senate race.
Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight just like Todd did to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol,
Trump said.
Beamer expanded on the comparison, telling the crowd that the threat is not coming from abroad this time. What’s going on right now in our country and here in Michigan? It’s not a surprise. We can see the attack coming that culminates in this battleground state on Tuesday, November the 3rd,
Beamer said.
Beamer, who has appeared in Rogers’ campaign ads, claimed Rogers is an American
while calling El-Sayed anti-American.
Both candidates were born in Michigan. Abdul has a birth certificate. The birth certificate says he’s a citizen of America. You know what? A birth certificate doesn’t make you an American,
Beamer said.
Mike Rogers Focuses on the Ballot Matchup
Rogers, appearing in an interview Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, faced questions about whether he agreed with Trump’s characterizations of El-Sayed as a Muslim Brotherhood jihadist
and a violent terrorist.
Rogers did not adopt the language, stating that the election is about me versus Abdul,
and adding, I’ve never called him a terrorist.
Previously, Rogers questioned El-Sayed regarding his mother, Fatten Elkomy, and her work decades ago at a charity later labeled by the U.S. government as a supporter of terrorist groups. Elkomy was not accused of wrongdoing at the time. El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the remarks from Trump and Beamer.
This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his. pic.twitter.com/p09eMtsh0x
Frequently Asked Questions About the Michigan Senate Race
What is El-Sayed’s response to allegations regarding the Muslim Brotherhood?
El-Sayed has repeatedly denied and denounced any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Last week, during a heated exchange with a town hall attendee who asked him to condemn the organization, El-Sayed said, You assume … that because I am Muslim, that somehow I would have some allegiance to something that is not our Constitution.
Who else campaigned in Michigan ahead of the rally?
Former President Barack Obama appeared onstage in Detroit on Saturday alongside El-Sayed and other Michigan Democratic candidates. Trump referenced Obama’s visit during Sunday’s rally in Port Huron, telling the crowd that Obama didn’t have a crowd like this.
When is the battleground state election concluding?
David Beamer and other speakers noted that the election culminates on Tuesday, November 3, in the crucial Senate race between Rogers and El-Sayed.