Trump leans into Islamophobic rhetoric at Michigan rally

President Donald Trump embraced Islamophobic rhetoric Sunday as he rallied in Port Huron, Michigan, in support of the state’s Republican candidates, including the GOP Senate nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers.

Trump alleged that Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee who is locked in a dead heat with Rogers, is a “jihadist,” calling him a “Muslim Brotherhood member” while saying Rogers is “apple pie.”

“Anyone with that record of support for jihadists would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane. They certainly should not give him a seat in the United States Senate,” Trump said about El-Sayed. “He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate. I want him to have a metal detector.”

Trump went on to draw a comparison between the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and El-Sayed as he introduced speaker David Beamer, whose son, Todd Beamer, was a passenger who died on the hijacked United Flight 93.

“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight just like Todd did to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol,” Trump said.

Beamer went on to extend Trump’s comparison between…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business