‘I can’t understand’ – Trump blasts Jewish voters backing El-Sayed

President Trump says Michigan Jews who vote for far-left, anti-Israel candidate Abdul El-Sayed “should be ashamed of themselves.”

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump condemned Jewish Americans who support Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday, accusing the outspoken Israel critic of hostility toward Jews and warning that his election would pose a threat to the United States.

Speaking at a Republican campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, Trump singled out El-Sayed, who is running against Republican Mike Rogers in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

“Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump declared. “You should never speak to them again.”

The president also expressed disbelief that El-Sayed could attract Jewish support despite his repeated denunciations of Israel.

“I cannot understand how anybody who’s Jewish can even think about voting for this guy,” he said, adding that the Democratic candidate would nevertheless receive some Jewish votes.

Trump claimed that his popularity in Israel stood at 99%, although polling has shown substantially more mixed Israeli attitudes toward his policies.

El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat who would become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate if victorious, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in American electoral politics.

In an interview with ABC News last week, he argued that Israel should no longer be considered an American ally, accusing the Jewish state of exploiting US military and financial support while drawing Washington into conflicts.

“An ally that takes your money to push you into wars you shouldn’t be fighting is not an ally,” El-Sayed said.

He compared the relationship to a friendship in which one individual repeatedly borrows money, disparages the other and instigates confrontations with third parties.

The Democratic candidate has also accused Israel of committing genocide and war crimes and opposed continued American military assistance to the country.

His positions have generated significant controversy among Michigan’s Jewish voters, particularly following his response to a March terrorist attack targeting Temple Israel, a synagogue in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield.

Although El-Sayed condemned the attack, his subsequent remarks suggesting that violence perpetuates further violence drew criticism from Jewish community leaders, who interpreted them as an attempt to rationalize the assault.

During an August appearance before Michigan’s Democratic Jewish Caucus, El-Sayed apologized.

“I made a mistake,” he acknowledged, adding, “If my statement caused pain, I’m sorry.”

Despite the tensions, some prominent Jewish Democrats, including Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, have endorsed El-Sayed, while others have refused to support him.

A coalition of Jewish community leaders recently urged El-Sayed to take a clearer stand on Jewish security and Israel, warning that his positions were alienating voters who otherwise opposed the Republican administration.

“You are making it painfully difficult for our community to vote for you,” the group told the candidate.

El-Sayed has rejected allegations of antisemitism, maintaining that opposition to Israel’s government and American pro-Israel lobbying organizations should not be equated with hostility toward Jews.

“AIPAC and Israel are not the same as Judaism and the Jewish people,” he said.

Trump’s remarks on Sunday went considerably beyond Israel policy, portraying El-Sayed as a radical Islamist and accusing him of connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“I’m here to keep a jihadist, Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator,” Trump told supporters.

He also invoked the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, comparing efforts to prevent El-Sayed’s election to the resistance mounted by passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93.

“Michigan needs to stand up and fight, just like Todd did,” Trump said, referring to Todd Beamer, one of the passengers who resisted the hijackers.