Bernie Sanders backs Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, accusing Trump of Islamophobia and attacks on working families

Sen. Bernie Sanders urged Michigan voters to elect Democrat Abdul El-Sayed to the U.S. Senate, calling the Nov. 3 midterms potentially the most important in modern American history and accusing President Donald Trump of using anti-Muslim attacks to divide voters.

Speaking alongside El-Sayed at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on Sunday, Sanders called Trump “a racist” and “the most divisive president” the country had seen in a long time. He said Republican attacks on El-Sayed were rooted in Islamophobia and designed to distract voters from health care, housing, inequality and other economic concerns.

“The reason that they are using Islamophobia against Abdul is because they have nothing to say about the real issues facing working people,” Sanders said.

Trump has repeatedly called El-Sayed a “jihadist,” falsely linked him to the Muslim Brotherhood and claimed he wants to impose Sharia law in the United States. El-Sayed has denied extremist ties, and no evidence has been produced establishing that he belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sanders challenged Trump to defend his domestic and foreign-policy record instead, citing the president’s 2025 tax and spending law and the war with Iran. He said the law would cause 15 million Americans to lose health coverage to finance a roughly $1 trillion tax benefit for the wealthiest 1%, and described Trump’s war with Iran as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

Independent projections estimate that roughly 15 million people could eventually lose health coverage because of changes enacted under the law and related policy decisions, rather than that all 15 million have already lost coverage.

Sanders also questioned Trump’s support for the rapid expansion of data centers across the United States and urged supporters to treat Michigan’s closely contested Senate race as a chance to constrain the administration.

“Michigan can make the difference,” he said, asking voters to make El-Sayed the state’s next senator.