Islamophobia in Michigan Senate race
The gist
Trump told a Port Huron rally that Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is a "jihadist" and would need a metal detector in the Senate.
El-Sayed would be the first Muslim senator.
How it unfolded
- Oct 22, 2026El-Sayed and Rogers clash in the final Michigan Senate debate over Trump, Iran and loyalty.
- Oct 25, 2026At a Port Huron rally, Trump calls El-Sayed a "jihadist" and says he would be the only senator who has to go through a metal detector. The same day, Rogers compares Michigan to Nazi Germany at a kosher barbecue in Oak Park, a major center of Orthodox Jewish life.
- Oct 26, 2026At a Republican campaign event in Grand Rapids, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests Arabs had no academic accomplishments. Sen. Elissa Slotkin tells CNN the Rogers campaign has adopted a "decidedly Islamophobic bent."