Trump invokes 9/11 in urging Michigan voters to oppose El-Sayed
President Trump has intensified his rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, linking him to 9/11 attackers and the Muslim Brotherhood. The race is a key contest for control of the US Senate.
Why it matters
The rhetoric highlights the role of identity politics and national security narratives in high-stakes US midterm elections.
President Donald Trump at a Sunday campaign rally ratcheted up his push to link US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Muslim extremists, comparing him to the 9/11 attackers while saying Democrats would let 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 a receptive audience in Port Huron, Michigan.
If he wins, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Trump has sought to paint him as an anti-American Muslim radical, and on Sunday he took the rhetoric to a new level, likening El-Sayed to the attackers who took over United Flight 93 during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
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