Trump Invokes Flight 93 in Michigan Rally Push Against Senate Candidate El-Sayed

President Donald Trump sharply escalated his attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign rally in Port Huron on Sunday, likening the Democrat to the hijackers of United Flight 93 during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Trump also claimed Democrats would allow violent, anti-American terrorists into the United States.

"I'm here to keep a jihadist, Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator," Trump told the receptive crowd. If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate. Trump has tried to portray him as an anti-American radical, and the Sunday remarks pushed that rhetoric further than before.

The president also drew a parallel between voting against El-Sayed and the actions of Todd Beamer, a Michigan native who was among those who resisted the Flight 93 hijackers. "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. He added that El-Sayed would be "the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector" before entering the Senate.

El-Sayed has rejected the accusations. In a recent advertisement he defended his faith, saying, "Faith is a thing there's just too little of in Washington." He has also denied any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world's oldest and most influential Islamist groups, and called it "shameful" for his Republican opponent to question his allegiance to the United States.

That opponent, former US Representative Mike Rogers, has alleged without evidence that El-Sayed has ties to the group. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" before the rally, Rogers said El-Sayed had not adequately answered questions about the claims. He described the Democrat as "a Democrat Socialist of America-aligned candidate who has these pretty radical support groups that don't like America."

The rally followed a Saturday appearance in Detroit by former President Barack Obama, who campaigned for Democrats in the state. Obama said the attacks on El-Sayed were meant to make him look "less patriotic and less American than they are," and compared them to the false claims that he himself was born in Kenya. "We have seen this movie before," Obama said. "I starred in it .. This stuff didn't work on me. Not in Michigan. It's not going to work on Abdul."

Michigan hosts one of the most competitive Senate contests in the country ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, with the open seat helping to determine control of the chamber. Port Huron lies in an area that Trump carried in the 2024 presidential election with more than 66% of the vote.

Trade policy has also featured in the campaign. The US-Canada tariff standoff has affected the Detroit-based auto industry, and Rogers has distanced himself from the president on the issue. On Sunday he praised the tariffs for securing manufacturing investments in Michigan by Chevrolet and Detroit Diesel, but said, "the automobile portion of these Canadian tariffs worries me a little bit." He added: "There's some good and there's some things we have to work on."

In a Fox News interview aired ahead of the rally, Trump praised Rogers as someone who shares the beliefs of Michigan voters. "He's going to be an amazing senator," Trump said on the "Sunday Briefing" program. "Solid as a rock. Apple pie."

Nationally, Democrats need to gain only a handful of seats in each chamber of Congress to end Republican control. Republicans currently hold narrow majorities of 53-47 in the Senate and 218-214 in the House of Representatives.