President Donald Trump made Islamophobic remarks at a rally in Port Huron, Miss., on Sunday in support of Republican candidates in the state, including former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee.
Trump claimed that Democratic Senate candidate Abdul-Saeed, who is at odds with Rogers, was a “jihadist,” called him a “Muslim Brotherhood member,” while calling Rogers an “apple pie.”
“Anyone with a record of supporting jihadists will be screened and not be able to get a seat on the plane. They certainly should not be giving him a seat in the United States Senate,” Trump said of El-Sayed. “He will be the only senator who has to go through a metal detector before being allowed into the Senate. I hope he has a metal detector.”
Trump went on to compare the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to El-Sayed while introducing Speaker David Beamer, whose son Todd Beamer was a passenger who died on the hijacked United Flight 93.
“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight like Todd did to stop the jihadists from walking into the Capitol,” Trump said.
Beamer went on to compare Trump’s Senate campaign to 9/11.
“What has changed? Well, one thing is, 9/11 was a surprise attack. What is happening now in our country and in the state of Michigan? It’s not surprising. We can see the attacks coming and culminating in this battleground state on Tuesday, November 3rd,” Beamer said on stage, standing behind Trump.
“The difference this time is that the enemy does not come from abroad. The enemy is among us, local terrorists, local citizens who want to destroy our country,” he added.
Beamer, who has appeared in Rogers campaign ads, compared the two men and claimed that Rogers was “American” while El-Sayed was not, calling him “anti-American.”
“Abdel has a birth certificate. The birth certificate says he’s a U.S. citizen. You know what? A birth certificate doesn’t make you an American,” Beamer said.
“His blood was red. However, he chose to eliminate any tension between the white and blue parts of his life. We cannot, cannot allow this man to invade and occupy our country,” he added.
Rogers and El-Sayed were both born in Michigan.
Saied’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump and Beemer’s remarks.
Trump accused El-Sayed of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Sunni Islamic organization founded in Egypt in 1928. The Trump administration has designated certain chapters of the group in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt as terrorist organizations. El-Said has repeatedly denied any ties to the group and has condemned it.
El-Sayed went viral last week for his heated interactions with town hall attendees who asked him to denounce the group.
“You think … that because I am a Muslim that I am somehow going to be loyal to something that is not part of our constitution,” Saied told attendees last week.
Rogers was asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday about Trump calling El-Sayed a “Muslim Brotherhood jihadist” and a “violent terrorist.” Asked if he agreed with Trump’s characterization, Rogers said the election was about “me versus Abdul,” adding, “I never called him a terrorist.”
Rogers had previously questioned Elsayed about his mother, Fatten Elkomy,’s decades-old work at a charity that the U.S. government later labeled a supporter of a terrorist group, leading to its closure. Elkomy was not accused of wrongdoing at the time.
Trump helped spread false conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama, claiming he was not a U.S. citizen and demanding to see his birth certificate. He has since returned to using his “birthplace” to attack other political opponents, including South Carolina-born former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Trump on Sunday mentioned Obama, who on Saturday represented El-Sayed and other Michigan Democratic candidates at a rally in Detroit.
“My rival was here yesterday,” Trump, who is not running for office, said of Obama, who is also not running for office. “I can tell you, he doesn’t have that crowd.”