Donald Trump has been accused of "straight-up racism" following a series of posts on Truth Social targeting Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The former president referred to El-Sayed as "Mohammed El-Sayed" and characterized him as a "RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer."
In one post, Trump wrote, "While his opponent, Mike Rogers, is an extremely good one, Mohammed goes back to the days of the Jihad. He is a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer, and no different from his best friend, America Hating Hasan Piker. Mohammed’s Values are not exactly those of Michiganders, or those of our Great United States of America!"
Trump further stated that El-Sayed is "WRONG for Michigan, and WRONG for America."
This was the second consecutive day Trump invoked the term "Jihad" while criticizing El-Sayed. On the previous day, Trump had criticized Fox News for its coverage of Democratic candidates, specifically mentioning El-Sayed.
"FoxNews spends more time covering the Jihadist and Dumocrat candidates than they do the good old fashioned Republicans, the people that have saved America, and are making it great again," Trump posted. "All they talk about is Dumocrat Jihadists like El-Sayed, with his softball interview by Martha MacCallum, and the like."
El-Sayed, a physician and former mayor, is currently leading his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, in polls for the Michigan Senate race. El-Sayed has not yet responded to Trump's recent statements.
Critics on social media quickly condemned Trump's remarks. One widely shared post pointed out that Trump had misidentified the candidate, stating, "There is no candidate named Mohammed El-Sayed running anywhere in America. Trump is so bigoted he went right to Mohammed to attack Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He couldn't even get the first name right."