El Sayed: I’ll go through metal detector if Trump sits for lie detector

Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed (D) on Thursday responded to President Trump’s suggestion that the Democratic candidate should be forced to go through a metal detector at the U.S. Capitol if elected to Congress.

During a campaign rally in Kalamazoo, Mich., El-Sayed said he would accept the request if Trump agreed to “sit for a lie detector.”

He referenced the president’s ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that he won the 2020 presidential election.

“I’ll go through a metal detector every day. You sit through a lie detector one time,” El-Sayed said. “That’s the deal.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

El-Sayed is engaged in a tight race against Trump-backed GOP nominee and former Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.).

The president and Rogers have repeatedly attacked the Democratic nominee for his faith and background and accused him of having ties to Islamic extremist groups. El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator if he wins Michigan’s open Senate race, has denied these accusations .

During his Thursday rally, the Democrat also used the president’s repeated calls for voters to vote like he was “ on the ballot ” this November against him.

“Kalamazoo, on Tuesday, I want you to vote like Donald Trump is on the ballot because Donald Trump is on the ballot,” El-Sayed told the crowd. “His war in Iran is on the ballot. His tariff war is on the ballot. His big ugly bill is on the ballot.”

As of a Friday forecast , nonpartisan election handicapper Decision Desk HQ places El-Sayed’s chances of winning the November race at a 73 percent probability and Rogers’s odds at around a 27 percent probability. The Cook Political Report rates this race as a “ toss up .”

The winner of this contest will replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

El-Sayed narrowly clinched the nomination over the summer in his primary against Rep. Haley Stevens (D). The lawmaker is expected to rally with the progressive candidate over the weekend, even after her fiancé said he would support Rogers.