Trump cites 9/11 in urging Michigan voters to oppose Muslim Senate candidate El-Sayed

US President Donald Trump at a Sunday campaign rally ratcheted up his push to link US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Muslim extremists, comparing him to the September 11 attackers while saying Democrats would let violent anti-American terrorists into the United States.

“I’m here to keep a jihadist, Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator,” Trump told a receptive audience in Port Huron, Michigan.

If he ‌wins, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Trump has sought to paint him as an anti-American Muslim radical and on Sunday he took the rhetoric to a new level, likening El-Sayed to the attackers who took over United Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Michigan has one of the nation’s most competitive US Senate contests going into the November 3 midterm elections, with former US Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican, and El-Sayed vying for an open seat that will help to decide control of the chamber.