El-Sayed says Trump is making him ‘main character of the midterms’

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) commented Tuesday on President Trump making him the “main character” of this year’s midterms, saying the move may give the Democrat a “gigantic platform” should he win in November.

“Trump is messing around and making me the … front page or the main character of the midterms,” El-Sayed told Michiganders on the campaign trail, as captured on C-SPAN cameras.

“That allows me then to both move a conversation but also maneuver inside because I can move a conversation across,” the candidate added.

Trump has repeatedly blasted El-Sayed after the Senate hopeful knocked off Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the Wolverine State’s Democratic primary last month. The progressive Democrat is set to face off against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) in November.

During an event in Las Vegas, the day after Michigan’s primaries, the president called El-Sayed a “man of hate” who “hates Jews and hates Israel.” In subsequent Truth Social posts , Trump labeled the progressive Democrat “crazy,” a “jihadist” and a “dumocrat,” among other insults.

“He’s a man of hate, and now he’s going around saying, ‘Oh I love everybody.’ He doesn’t love everybody,” the president said his Las Vegas speech. “Put him in office, and you’re going to find out what he loves.”

On the campaign trail, El-Sayed has criticized the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The former Wayne County health official has also argued the U.S. government should forgo involvement in foreign conflicts in favor of investing more in social services at home.

Earlier this week, Vice President Vance labeled El-Sayed as “evil,” saying he is “fighting for one group at the expense of others.” El-Sayed, who is Muslim, was born in Rochester Hills, Mich., to Egyptian immigrant parents.

El-Sayed doubled down on his talking points while speaking to Michiganders on Tuesday, saying his views on international affairs are informed by his preference to keep tax dollars in the U.S.

“That money is money that’s being spent in the West Bank, that should be spent on the West Side [of Detroit],” he said, referring to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

El-Sayed added, “One of the things you’ll hear me talk about all the time is, I don’t want to fight stupid wars. I want to invest … in infrastructure, water infrastructure being one of those things.”

Polling indicates the El-Sayed-Rogers race will be tight, as the two fight to succeed outgoing Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

A survey EPIC-MIRA conducted in late August found that 47 percent of respondents backed or leaned toward El-Sayed, while 43 percent supported or leaned toward Rogers . The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

As of Monday, Decision Desk HQ gave El-Sayed a 68 percent chance of winning.