El-Sayed Dismisses Trump's Anti-Muslim Attacks as Distraction From Everyday Concerns
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed says the president's claims against him are baseless deflections meant to draw attention away from issues such as fuel prices and the war on Iran.
By News Media House Staff ·
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan, has rejected a series of anti-Muslim attacks from President Donald Trump, describing them as an effort to pull attention away from the president's own record.
Speaking at a news conference in Detroit on Monday, El-Sayed said Trump was trying to shift the conversation away from matters that weigh on Americans, including petrol prices and the war on Iran, by branding him a "jihadist." He called the accusations "deflections and deceptions based on no evidence."
El-Sayed said Republicans were avoiding the problems that affect voters' daily lives. "They're not talking about your gas or your groceries," he said, adding that they were also silent on clean air and clean water and on the other things government is meant to solve. In his words, Trump "has created those problems."
The remarks came a day after a Trump rally in Michigan on Sunday, where the president repeated baseless claims against El-Sayed and accused him of wanting to impose "Sharia law" on the country. Trump also said El-Sayed would be the only senator required to pass through a metal detector before entering the Senate. "I want him to have a metal detector," Trump said.
El-Sayed laughed off the suggestion that he could pose a physical danger to Congress. "He knows I got those Wolverine claws," he said, a nod to the sports teams of his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
El-Sayed, a progressive and former public health official, is in a tight contest with Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman. The race could determine control of the Senate for the next two years. Rogers has made unfounded allegations tying El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah a central part of his campaign.
El-Sayed argued that most Americans do not accept such tactics. "There are always a few small people who want to make America small like that. You see them; they're very loud, and they bark," he said. He described the majority of people in Michigan as open-minded and big-hearted, and said "Michiganders are a lot bigger than that."
He also responded to Trump's mockery of his name, which the president has misrepresented as "Mohamed." El-Sayed said his name and his faith were not to blame for the cost of gas, groceries, rent, mortgages or medical care.
Originally published by News Media House · Source: Al Jazeera
