What happened
President Donald Trump used a campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, October 25, to sharpen his attacks on Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Speaking at the McMorran Place arena in support of Republican candidate Mike Rogers, Trump called El-Sayed a jihadist and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Trump also claimed El-Sayed wants to bring Sharia law to the United States. He told the crowd El-Sayed would have to pass through a metal detector before being allowed into the Senate, and he repeatedly invoked the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as he urged voters to reject the Democrat.
Trump repeated similar claims on his social media platform, Truth Social, in the run-up to the rally. He did not provide evidence for the accusations about El-Sayed's links or intentions, according to the Associated Press report carried by NPR.
El-Sayed, a Michigan-born physician and former Detroit health official, has denied any ties to extremist groups. He has called attacks on his loyalty to the country shameful. If elected, he would become the nation's first Muslim senator.
The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, the group that helped lead Trump's outreach to Arab American voters in 2024. Bahbah said in a phone interview that the president's statements were out of line, that they were crossing a red line, and that they were racist.
Why it matters
The Port Huron rally came nine days before the November 3 midterm elections, and Michigan is one of the states both parties are fighting hardest to win. El-Sayed and Rogers are contesting an open seat now held by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters, and the race is counted among only a handful of toss-up Senate contests.
Former President Barack Obama campaigned for El-Sayed in Detroit on Saturday, a day before Trump's Port Huron event. Obama appeared with El-Sayed and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, and he warned voters against personal attacks and conspiracy theories. He said the same kind of theories had been aimed at him before, and added: "This stuff didn't work on me. Not in Michigan. It's not going to work on Abdul."
Trump's focus on El-Sayed's faith also follows a pattern in this campaign. The Associated Press report noted that, with Republicans on the defensive over inflation, rising fuel prices and the war with Iran, Trump has been trying to drive turnout by portraying El-Sayed and other Democrats as threats to America rather than as ordinary electoral rivals. For background on how the midterms will shape Congress, see [our explainer on the 2026 midterms](/article/us-midterm-elections-2026-explained), and for the previous day's campaigning, see [Obama's Detroit rally for Democrats](/article/obama-campaigns-democrats-midterms-trump).
Rogers joined Trump on stage in Port Huron, a show of unity after Rogers had earlier raised concerns about the Iran war and about tariffs on Canada, which borders Michigan. Rogers also repeated claims linking El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood and to other groups, again without offering evidence in the reporting of the rally.
What it means for the US
For American voters, the Michigan result will help answer the biggest question of the midterms: which party controls the Senate. Republicans now hold 53 of the chamber's 100 seats, with 35 seats on the ballot in 2026. If Rogers flips the Peters seat, Democrats would face a steeper climb to a majority, since they would need to win other toss-up races to make up the loss.
The episode also tests a voter group that mattered in 2024. Arab Americans for Trump helped the president's outreach to Arab American voters two years ago, so a public break from one of that group's founders carries weight beyond one rally speech. How Arab American voters in Michigan respond on November 3 could matter in a close statewide race, and it could signal whether identity-based attacks help or hurt turnout in the final days.
The backdrop is the cost of living. Al Jazeera reported that a gallon of petrol in Michigan averaged $4.83 on Sunday, up from $2.91 before the war with Iran began, after Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump told the Port Huron crowd he has no regrets about the war and defended the decision on nuclear grounds, even as voters weigh fuel prices alongside the Senate race.
What happens next
Both campaigns now have just over a week to turn the rally into votes. Trump is expected to keep campaigning for Republican candidates in battleground states, while El-Sayed and his supporters are likely to keep pressing their argument that the attacks are a distraction from the economy, health care and jobs.
Early voting is already under way in many states, and Michigan voters will settle the El-Sayed-Rogers race on November 3. The result will be read nationally as a measure of Senate control, of the power of Trump's turnout strategy, and of how voters in a diverse battleground state respond when a candidate's faith becomes a central campaign issue.
