In his latest campaign ad released late Monday, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic US Senate candidate in Michigan, struck a resilient and matter-of-fact tone that suggested the recent racist attacks on him, his Arabic name, and his Muslim faith are no secretâbut he has no plans to try to hide his identity to appease Republicans and Democrats who have claimed heâs an âextremistâ or accused him of terrorist ties.
Archiv: booting Mike Rogers
Republicans put spotlight on Abdul El-Sayed. He welcomes the fight
The exchanges captured two sides of a candidate who is the central figure in one of the nationâs most consequential Senate races. El-Sayed would be the countryâs first Muslim senator, and heâs crisscrossing the state to counter a Republican effort, fueled by tens of millions of dollars, to portray him as a dangerous radical. But he has also embraced his confrontational side by mocking and taunting Trump and Rogers.
âIf they want to make me the main character in the midterms, Iâm not shying away from it,â El-Sayed said in an interview. âRun against me. See how well that works out for you.â
âI Can Call Him Whatever the Hell I Wantâ: Trump Misnames Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed
During a rally in Tennessee on Saturday, President Trump repeatedly misnamed Michiganâs Democratic Senate candidate Abdul ElâSayed as âMohammed,â calling him a âjihadist.â
President Donald Trump: âLike Mohammed El-Sayed â I call him Mohammed. Somebody said, ‚His name isn‘t Mohammed; itâs Abdul.â I said, ‚To me, it‘s Mohammed.â Iâm the president. I can call him whatever the hell I want. To me, heâs Mohammed, and heâs a radical jihadist.â
âHeâs Desperateâ: AIPAC Begins Spending Against Abdul El-Sayed to Boost Mike Rogers
A campaign finance report filed on Friday revealed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committeeâs super PAC, the United Democracy Project, has resumed spending on Michiganâs US Senate race, dropping $95,000 on mailers opposing Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a bid to help Republican Mike Rogers weeks ahead of the key midterm contest.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) report came a day after Rogers and El-Sayed clashed on the debate stage over healthcare, drug prices, military assistance to Israel, and other issues. Asked during the debate whether he would accept AIPACâs support in the race, Rogers said, âAnybody that wants to help my campaign stop [El-Sayed]… Iâll take all of that help.â
Abdul for U.S. Senate
Abdul El-Sayed wasnât supposed to be a politician. He studied to be a doctor, but realized it was our broken politics that was making people sick. Abdul has dedicated his career to building government agencies that actually work for Michiganders. He is running for the U.S. Senate because he believes life in America shouldnât be this hard, and as your Senator, Abdul will fight to build a government that works for you, not Elon Musk, Donald Trump, or their billionaire friends.
El-Sayed on Islamophobia: „That‘s the only play they got. They‘re gonna point at me, they‘re gonna point at my name, like, ‚Wow, he‘s different.‘ That‘s the best you got?
You can‘t actually talk about what you want to do?
El-Sayed Challenges âCorporate Selloutâ and âCowardâ Mike Rogers to Five Debates
Ripping Rogers as a âcorporate sellout,â El-Sayed said that he is âa guy who spent 14 years in Congress with one goal: to figure out how to cash out the day he left. And guess what he did: As soon as he left Congress, after having taken corporate check after corporate check after corporate check, to empower the corporations to pick your pockets, he went and he cashed out.â
âNot in Michiganâno, winters are too cold for him,â he added, eliciting chuckles from the crowd. âHeâs got thin skin, after all. He went to Florida. So, Mike, if you wanna be a Florida man, go be a Florida man.â
Rogersâ who was unopposed in Tuesdayâs GOP primary, worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation before entering politics, first at the state level and then representing Michiganâs 8th District in Congress from 2001-15. In comments to Fox News late Tuesday, the Republican cited his time fighting âterrorismâ in the FBI and falsely claimed that El-Sayed believes âAmerica deserved 9/11.â