President Donald Trump held his final travelling campaign events in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday, repeating his claim that Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed is a “jihadist”, attacking other Democratic candidates and inviting a Michigan congresswoman to join the Republican Party, days before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The rallies, cancelled last week before being suddenly rescheduled, were Trump's final travelling events before the November 3 elections, which will decide control of Congress during his last two years as president. Iowa and Kansas are represented mostly by Republican lawmakers, but polling suggests Democrats could flip both states, and that the night could be bruising for Republicans. Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932, and Iowa's Senate race is too close to call.
At his Iowa rally in Dubuque, Trump repeated claims that El-Sayed, a practicing Muslim, is a member of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood, branches of which the US has deemed foreign "terrorist" organizations, and joked that the Senate would need a metal detector for him. "We're gonna have to get a special metal detector for Abdul," Trump said. "If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you're crazy," he added.
The Michigan race has drawn national attention in its final days after Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the August primary to El-Sayed, declined to campaign with him and demanded he disavow an outside group’s ad that posited a link between rising prices and US military support for Israel’s war on Gaza. El-Sayed told her to stay away from an event at which they were due to appear together on Sunday. Stevens then endorsed El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, a move condemned by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Trump praised Stevens and said he would “love” her to switch parties. “It was an incredible thing,” he said. “I’d love her to join the Republican party. I think that could happen.” He called Rogers “apple pie”, saying: “We don’t need the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood. We need apple pie.”
In Kansas, Trump attacked Democratic Senate hopeful Adam Hamilton, a church pastor, over his support for transgender rights, calling him a "stiff" who reads his sermons from teleprompters. At both rallies he repeated his claim, made without evidence, that Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar was previously married to her brother.
Both speeches were interrupted by hecklers. Trump also ranged over the US-Israel war on Iran, the cost of living, immigration, perceived media bias against him and the administration of former President Joe Biden, and repeatedly pressed supporters to turn out, telling them to “pretend I’m on the ballot”. “Essentially, I am on the ballot,” he said.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The November 3 midterms will decide control of Congress during the final two years of Trump's presidency, and sources say the Michigan Senate race is neck-and-neck with an outsized role in determining which party runs the chamber.
- Trump's closing rallies show the themes he is pressing in the campaign's last days: anti-Muslim rhetoric, conspiracy claims and cultural attacks on Democrats, alongside urgent appeals to Republican turnout.
- The public rupture between El-Sayed and Stevens, with a sitting Democratic congresswoman endorsing the Republican nominee, injects uncertainty into a race that could decide Senate control.
Background
Midterm elections two years into a president's term decide control of Congress, and these sources report the outcome will shape Trump's final two years in office. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive and practicing Muslim who won the August Democratic primary against Stevens, faces Republican Mike Rogers. In the campaign's final days, Stevens demanded El-Sayed publicly disavow an outside group's ad linking rising prices to US military support for Israel's war on Gaza; after El-Sayed told her to stay away from a joint appearance, she endorsed Rogers.
Key Perspectives
Donald Trump: repeated his claims that El-Sayed is a "jihadist" and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, joked about needing a special metal detector for him, and said he would "love" Stevens to join the Republican Party.
Chuck Schumer: the Senate minority leader condemned Stevens' endorsement of Rogers.
Haley Stevens: endorsed Mike Rogers after demanding El-Sayed disavow an outside group's ad and after he told her to stay away from a joint campaign event.
Abdul El-Sayed: told Stevens to stay away from the event after she declined to campaign with him.
What to Watch
- The November 3 results in Michigan, Iowa and Kansas, with polling suggesting Democrats could flip both rally states.
- Whether Stevens follows through on a party switch, which Trump said "could happen".
- The Michigan Senate outcome, given its reported outsized role in determining control of the Senate.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedTrump called Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” at an Iowa rally.World news | The Guardian: “Donald Trump railed against Democratic US senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign event in Iowa Sunday, repeatedly referring to the Michigan progressive as a “jihadist”.”
- SupportedThe summary describes the Michigan Senate race between El-Sayed and Rogers as neck-and-neck.World news | The Guardian: “Trump’s comments aimed to influence a neck-and-neck race that will play an outsized role in determining which party controls the senate after Tuesday’s midterm elections.”
- SupportedTrump said, “If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy.”World news | The Guardian: ““If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy,” Trump said.”
- SupportedTrump said Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if El-Sayed were elected.World news | The Guardian: “saying that Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if he were elected.”
- SupportedThe story characterises Trump’s attack on El-Sayed as being in racist terms.World news | The Guardian: “The president bashed El-Sayed, a practicing Muslim, in brazenly racist terms”
- SupportedStevens lost to El-Sayed in the August primary election.World news | The Guardian: “Hayley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the August primary election”
- SupportedStevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers after a dispute involving El-Sayed and an outside group’s ad.World news | The Guardian: “Stevens turned around and endorsed Mike Rogers , El-Sayed’s Republican opponent.”
- SupportedThe outside group’s ad posited a link between rising prices and US military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.World news | The Guardian: “an outside group’s political ad that posited a link between rising prices and US military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.”
- SupportedTrump urged Stevens to join the Republican Party and said, “I’d love her to join the Republican party. I think that could happen.”World news | The Guardian: ““I’d love her to join the Republican party. I think that could happen.””
- SupportedChuck Schumer condemned Stevens’ defection.World news | The Guardian: “Steven’s high-profile defection in the waning hours of the tight race drew the condemnation of Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, who is Jewish.”
- SupportedTrump said, “And you know what this country needs? A little apple pie. We don’t need the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood.”World news | The Guardian: ““And you know what this country needs? A little apple pie. We don’t need the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood. We need apple pie.””
- Partly supportedTrump acknowledged he had little time for leisure.World news | The Guardian: “Trump had little time to watch football this weekend, he noted, because he had been “going to these damn rallies all over the place”.”