Trump says El-Sayed should face a Senate metal detector

President Donald Trump came to Port Huron on Sunday to campaign for Mike Rogers, but much of his message was about Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. He added a new image to weeks of attacks: a metal detector at the door of the U.S. Senate.

"He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go into the Senate," Trump told the crowd, according to The Independent. "I want him to have a metal detector."

Trump gave no evidence for his claims about El-Sayed or his family, The Independent reported. El-Sayed, a physician born in Rochester Hills to Egyptian immigrant parents, has repeatedly denied any link to the Muslim Brotherhood and has said he will swear an oath to the Constitution. Some branches of the Brotherhood are designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, the Associated Press reported.

What did Trump say about El-Sayed?

Trump stated his purpose early. He said he was in Michigan to keep "a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member" out of the Senate, AP reported. Before the rally, he wrote on Truth Social that El-Sayed "should never be allowed inside the Halls" of the Capitol, according to Fox News.

On stage, Trump linked that claim to air travel and security clearances. He said someone with El-Sayed's "record" would be screened and kept off an airplane, and "certainly should not" be given a Senate seat, The Independent reported. He added that a senator would have access to "our nation's most closely guarded national security secrets."

Trump also invoked Sept. 11. With the parents of Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer, a Michigan native, at the rally, he urged Michigan to "stand up and fight, just like Todd did," AP reported. David Beamer, who endorsed Rogers in September and appeared in a Rogers ad, spoke earlier and called El-Sayed "anti-American," according to Fox News.

Trump also addressed Jewish voters. "Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves," he said, according to video of the remarks cited by The Times of Israel. Detroit News reporter Craig Mauger, who was at the rally, posted a nearly identical line.

What did Rogers say on stage?

Rogers, a former FBI agent and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke before the president. He said El-Sayed had accepted campaign donations from organizations and from "the literal spokesmen from the Muslim Brotherhood." "As a former FBI agent, I can tell you, we would call that a clue," Rogers said, according to Mediaite. Mediaite said Rogers may have drawn the donor claims from a Washington Free Beacon report, and that El-Sayed has not publicly addressed individual donations. NewsCubby has not independently verified the donor claims.

"Abdul El-Sayed does not belong anywhere near the United States Senate," Rogers told the crowd, according to Mediaite. He also claimed the Brotherhood had celebrated "exactly one victory" in this year's U.S. primaries, El-Sayed's, AP reported. The rally accounts NewsCubby reviewed do not show him citing evidence for that claim. Earlier Sunday, his campaign account asked on X why the national media did not ask El-Sayed "why the Muslim Brotherhood celebrated HIS primary victory."

Rogers has argued that the issue is ideology, not faith. "I wore the uniform so anyone can pray any way they want," his campaign account posted on X at 12:35 p.m. ET Sunday, before the rally. "This isn't about his religion." The same post accused El-Sayed of ties to terrorist organizations, without offering evidence. On Friday, Rogers told Fox News' Bret Baier, "It is not how he prays, it's how he thinks."

In September, Rogers' communications director, Alyssa Brouillet, told Bridge Michigan that Rogers "vehemently condemns hate against all religious groups, including the Muslim community."

As of about 5:47 p.m. ET, the Rogers campaign had not publicly responded to Trump's metal detector remark.

What does the record show?

The claims have followed El-Sayed since he won the Democratic nomination in August. Bridge Michigan reviewed them in September and found no evidence that he has ties to the organization or "pledged his support" to it, as Rogers said in an Aug. 5 statement.

Critics point to a 2011 HuffPost column in which El-Sayed, then a Columbia University epidemiologist, urged the Obama administration to support Egypt's protesters. They also cite a 2012 group letter defending then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Bridge found that neither pledged support for the Brotherhood. The U.S. designated the group's Egyptian branch a terrorist organization in January, years after both were written, Bridge reported.

Claims about his family have centered on 2010 social media posts by a half-sister about their mother's alleged involvement with the group in the 1970s, and on a relative's lawsuit over an alleged watchlist placement, Fox News reported. El-Sayed has called the posts "hearsay," Bridge reported, and Fox noted that the lawsuit does not establish wrongdoing.

How has El-Sayed responded?

NewsCubby found no direct response to the rally remarks in El-Sayed's public X posts through about 5:47 p.m. ET Sunday. Before Trump spoke, El-Sayed posted that "a vote for Rogers is a vote for the Trump agenda."

His most recent direct denials came last week. At an Oct. 17 town hall in Caro, when asked whether he disavows the Brotherhood, he answered, "Sure. Yeah, absolutely," Fox News and Bridge reported. He compared his situation to John F. Kennedy's, according to Bridge: "I'm not running to be a Muslim senator, I'm running for the US Senate and happen to be Muslim."

When Baier pressed him on Friday, Oct. 23, he said: "I will be loyal to the Constitution of the United States." He also said the question implied he had "dual loyalties."

At the candidates' final debate, when Rogers asked, "Are you for America, or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?" El-Sayed called the line of questioning "shameful" and said, "I'm proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray," AP reported.

He has called the attacks a distraction from living costs. "They think they can point to my name and my faith and distract us from the fact that we can't afford our gas and we can't afford our groceries," he told ABC News on Oct. 20. At Saturday's Detroit rally, former President Barack Obama took on the labels directly: "This stuff didn't work on me in Michigan, it's not going to work for Abdul," Bridge reported.

What are Muslim advocacy groups saying?

As of about 5:47 p.m. ET, NewsCubby had not found a new statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) about Sunday's remarks. The group has criticized this line of attack before. On Aug. 10, after Trump said in the Oval Office that "jihadists" were "being elected all over the place," CAIR's Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement that the president "is putting a target on the back of Muslim elected officials across our nation." The same day, Dawud Walid of CAIR's Michigan chapter told ClickOnDetroit, about a Trump social media post comparing El-Sayed and his wife with the president and first lady, "It's a political tactic, and we've seen it before."

In September, CAIR-Michigan attorney Amy V. Doukoure told Bridge that Islamic groups had seen more harassment and threats since El-Sayed's nomination.

In a Sept. 1 Michigan State University survey of likely voters, 37% said they were less likely to support a Muslim candidate, Bridge reported.

Why does this matter in the race?

The seat is open because Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring. Republicans hold the Senate 53-47, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control, Fox News reported. Republicans have not won a Michigan Senate race in more than three decades, and Rogers narrowly lost the state's 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin, AP reported. If El-Sayed wins, AP noted, he would be the first Muslim U.S. senator.

The Marist poll, taken Oct. 15–18, had El-Sayed at 50% and Rogers at 48% among likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 points. Independents favored El-Sayed 50% to 44%. Trump's approval rating among Michigan likely voters stood at 42%, and 44% said their congressional vote was mainly a vote against him, while 18% said it was mainly a vote for him.

The campaigns' closing messages differ. El-Sayed is running on costs and health care, including guaranteed public insurance, and wants a war powers resolution on Iran, he told Fox News. Rogers has focused on manufacturing jobs, auto insurance and reading scores, and says he has broken with Trump on Canadian tariffs. Vice President JD Vance is due in Howell on Tuesday, Bridge reported.

What we know

- Trump said El-Sayed should have to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate and should not be allowed in the Capitol. He offered no evidence for his claims. - Rogers told the crowd that El-Sayed does not belong in the Senate and cited donations that Mediaite said may trace to a Free Beacon report. - El-Sayed has repeatedly denied ties to the group, including on Oct. 17 and Oct. 23. Bridge Michigan found no evidence he pledged support to it.

What we don't know yet

- How El-Sayed and his campaign will respond to Sunday's remarks. - Whether the Rogers campaign agrees with Trump's metal detector comment. - Whether CAIR or other groups will issue new statements.

What happens next

Vance campaigns in Howell on Tuesday, and early voting continues ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. NewsCubby will update this story if El-Sayed, the Rogers campaign or CAIR responds.

*Credits: reporting from the Associated Press (via ClickOnDetroit), The Independent, Fox News, The Detroit News, The Times of Israel, Mediaite, Bridge Michigan, ABC News, ClickOnDetroit, CAIR, the New York Post and the Marist Poll. NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*