President Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, calling him "a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100%" during a White House Rose Garden lunch on Thursday, October 15. Mocking El-Sayed's name, Trump said he calls him "Mohammed Abdul El-Sayed," then asked how it would look to have him on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He also branded the candidate a "fraud" and a "con man," claimed he hates the country, and urged voters to make sure Republican Mike Rogers wins the seat. Trump said he plans to visit Michigan to expose what he called a fraud running for office.

The remarks come as El-Sayed faces fresh scrutiny over old posts by his half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, who wrote in 2012 about her mother's activism in the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the early 1970s and said her family has long been connected to the group. Those posts have become central to the race, though reports note they do not establish any direct role by El-Sayed himself. El-Sayed has repeatedly denied personal or family ties, telling NBC's Meet the Press that he has no ties, and says Republican attacks on his name and faith are meant to distract from economic issues. The Muslim Brotherhood is designated a terrorist organization by several governments, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which is why the label carries so much political weight. With El-Sayed positioned to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, the fight over these claims is shaping up as one of the most heated storylines of the Michigan contest.