Vance and Trump escalate attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over his faith

Vance and Trump escalate attacks

Vice President JD Vance escalated his attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan, at a campaign stop in Howell on Tuesday, 27 October. He tied the Democrat to leftwing protests in Paris, which began as student protests over crumbling schools and rising living costs and have led to thousands of arrests. Vance also claimed El-Sayed would lead rioters in "burning down" Detroit. Speaking to the crowd, he put it this way:

“The scene of destruction in Paris may be an ocean away, but ask yourselves: are they really so hard to imagine here in the United States of America?”

Trump had already campaigned against El-Sayed in Michigan. According to the Guardian, he said on a visit to the state on Sunday, 25 October, that El-Sayed was "on the side of the terrorists". On Monday, 26 October, at a rally for Republican Mike Rogers, Axios reports he called El-Sayed a "jihadist", said the candidate would be the only senator required to pass through a metal detector, and again tied him to the Muslim Brotherhood. Axios reports that no evidence has emerged linking El-Sayed to that group, and that his campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

A poll and the fight over faith

A Michigan State University poll released on Monday, 26 October, found that 38% of likely voters would be less likely to support a Muslim candidate, while 58% said a candidate's faith would make no difference. The same poll found 52% would be less likely to back a politician endorsed by Trump. Republican consultant Dennis Darnoi told Axios that Trump's rhetoric "doesn't really move the needle one way or the other" in Michigan, where voters have heard similar language before. He added that the strategy could energize Trump's base but might discourage Jewish and Black Democrats who backed El-Sayed's primary rival, Haley Stevens. Haris Tarin of the Muslim Public Affairs Council argued the attacks are built on fear:

“They've chosen to instill fear in people, promote lies, pure lies.”

Less likely to back a Muslim candidate38%

Candidate's faith makes no difference58%

Less likely to back a Trump-endorsed politician52%

Less likely to back a Muslim candidate

38 %

Candidate's faith makes no difference

58 %

Less likely to back a Trump-endorsed politician

52 %

Data from the article text

Burned-out voters

NPR's Michel Martin, reporting from Ann Arbor, found that voters were more worried about the price of gas, groceries and health care than about the rhetoric, and many described themselves as burned out. Some were throwing away stacks of political mailers, and one woman told Martin she had voted early just to get it over with. At a University of Michigan football tailgate, Nick Janosi said he plans to vote for El-Sayed but wishes for more independent candidates. At a Detroit Lions tailgate, Josh Snell said he would probably vote for Rogers because of his opposition to Trump's Canadian tariffs, and that many people are afraid because of the violence involved. Martin said reluctance to discuss political preferences was "worse than I've ever seen it" across Michigan, regardless of party.

Jewish and Muslim congregations in Southfield

In Southfield, Congregation Shaarey Zedek, a synagogue that has anchored Jewish life in suburban Detroit since the 1960s, stands across the road from Umma, a Muslim congregation that opened this year. Both congregations, the New York Times reports, worry about hate and share a fear that they could be targeted in a hate crime at any time. El-Sayed has drawn Islamophobic rhetoric from agitators and from supporters of Rogers, including Trump, and has also been accused of stoking antisemitism through his criticism of Israel. Andy Bocknek, a former president of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the site of a violent antisemitic attack in March, said the race had become a contest over which candidate voters fear most. Some lifelong Democrats are considering Rogers or not voting at all.

Arab American voters and Gaza

In Dearborn, a majority Arab American city, the Washington Post interviewed about a dozen residents and found that "America First" resonates with voters frustrated by US support for Israel. El-Sayed ran a campaign ad that aired exclusively on Fox News and Newsmax, featuring clips of Tucker Carlson and Jesse Watters praising him. A Washington Post-Schar School nationwide poll found 58% of Arab Americans support Democrats for Congress, after an even split in the 2024 presidential race. Two-thirds of Arab Americans who voted for Trump still approve of his overall performance, but 54% disapprove of his handling of Israel's war in Gaza. La Vanguardia reports that the uncommitted movement, which began in Dearborn, has pushed the Democratic Party to change, and Amer Zahr, a comedian of Palestinian origin, argued:

“I think our protest vote drove the Democratic transformation: if Kamala Harris had won the presidency, Abdul El Sayed and Zohran Mamdani would not exist politically.”

The Washington Post calls the race a toss-up, while El Mundo reports El-Sayed holds a slight lead over Rogers.