Introducing America to ‘Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed’
It’s not at all surprising, but it was nonetheless quick: With the Michigan Democratic primary over, Republicans are trying to reap whatever they can from drawing an opponent in a crucial state for Senate control who has a foreign-sounding name.
“I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice,” said his opponent, Mike Rogers, in a statement. “Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11.”
It’s unclear where exactly Rogers hunted terrorists — though he served in the military in the ’80s, he was in Congress in the years after 9/11. Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, not El-Sayed, said America “deserved 9/11” before apologizing.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee made a point of calling him by his full name, “Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed,” and put out a statement by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) claiming El-Sayed supports “terrorist organizations.” “An alliance of communists and Islamists is taking control of the Democrat party,” the Senate Republican Conference posted on social media.
In an interview last night with MS Now, El-Sayed was asked directly about the attacks and offered an optimistic take on the electorate. “Of course, he’s going to do the same thing that MAGA always does, which is try to divide us,” he said of Rogers.
“I know that Michiganders are open-minded,” he continued. “They’re big-hearted. They’re less interested in how you pray than what you pray for. And we all pray for the same things. We want what’s good for our kids and our families. We want clean air, clean water, healthcare we can afford.
“So they’re going to use Islamophobia because their ideas are tired, their economy sucks. They’re taking us to a war we shouldn’t fight. And we have an opportunity to actually focus on bringing us together.”
As Nicole LaFond noted last night and Khaya Himmelman will have more on today, another predictable aspect of the GOP’s response to Tuesday’s election has been to undermine its validity. As much as the election denial-tinged freakout around California seemed half-baked — did reality star turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt ever really have a path? — the Michigan discourse on the right is transparently aimed not at any particular outcome (it’s a primary contest between Democrats, after all) but more broadly at sowing distrust. “Anyone want to bet that when the mail in ballots come in in Michigan there will be a HUGE surge for Haley Stevens?” Sean Spicer said in one representative social media post echoing the president. It was an assertion that Democrats somehow manipulate elections to reach their preferred outcomes, a necessary conspiracy theory to breathe life into ahead of whatever Trump may try in November.
One of the Weirdest, Loudest Members of Congress Faces a Primary Challenge
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) — who you may know for his legislation seeking to denaturalize and deport New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, or for his lies about a six-figure personal loan to his campaign that drew comparisons with George Santos, or as the man seeking to amend the Constitution so Trump (but not Barack Obama) can run for a third term — is facing a primary challenge today.
- Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher (R) has raised more money than Ogles and has the endorsement of Governor Bill Lee (R), The Downballot reports. Ogles has Trump’s endorsement.
- There is scant polling of the race, but Ogles seems to have a small lead.
- Trump’s subservient Department of Justice did Ogles a favor, too: Immediately before a new gerrymander of the state — primarily seeking to deny Black voters the ability to pick their own candidate, but also drawing Ogles a largely new district with a different electorate — it said it would drop an investigation into whether he committed campaign finance fraud and return or destroy the evidence it had collected.
Tabs
- Perhaps surprisingly, the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are projected to fall — not, of course, because of anything the federal government is doing, but due to increased reliance on cleaner (if not always entirely clean) fuels.
- Trump speaks often with his new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, the Wall Street Journal reports — an encroachment on the Fed’s independence.
Man of the Hour
It’s Tom Smith, who won his primary race in Michigan despite having suspended his campaign in July; Trump’s preferred candidate, Amir Hassan, came in second. The candidate Smith endorsed, Al Lemmo, came in third. Lemmo speculated to the New York Times that Smith won because of his “plain-Jane American name.”
Are We at War?
Yes, and Trump is mad that we’re running out of munitions. And mad that we know he’s mad that we’re running out of munitions.
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Vance floats Abdul el Sayed being president ‘in three years’
Vice President JD Vance floated on Wednesday the possibility that in three years’ time, firebrand Michigan Democratic nominee Abdul el Sayed could be sitting in the White House as commander in chief.
Vance raised the prospect of an el Sayed administration during an anti-fraud event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, arguing that Congress needs to codify stricter guidelines to prevent future scams in taxpayer-funded federal programs
“This effort will fundamentally always have a limitation unless our colleagues in the House and the Senate are working with us,” he said. “We don’t want the next administration, whoever you know, God forbid, you’re going to have President el Sayed in three years. We don’t want him to undo all the incredible work that we’ve been doing when we’ve been taking out the fraudsters and saving the American people money.”
Vance made the comments only hours after el Sayed was declared the victor in Michigan’s hotly contested Democratic primary to replace Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
See same thing
One is being divorced because of adultery and the other is dating!
If this were true Stevens would have won.
oh my effing gawd. It is NOT the Pitchbot. Sorry, being an adulterer is not the same as dating a onetime staffer. Talk about a real false equivalncy…
You absolutely do NOT have to hand it to Ian Miles Cheong, but given he’s Malaysian it makes sense he’s entered the Inshallah Wars on the side of Inshallah.