President Donald Trump wanted Abdul El-Sayed to go through a metal detector before entering the Senate. Michigan voters just gave him a seat. The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Rogers Tuesday, becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate after a bruising campaign that made him a recurr ing target of the president’s anti-Muslim attacks. For El-Sayed, a physician, Rhodes Scholar and former Detroit health director, the victory delivered more than a historic first. It handed Trump a political defeat days after the Democrat turned one of the president’s insults into a pointed challenge about Jeffrey Epstein and the 2020 election. Abdul El-Sayed (D-left) is running against Mike Rogers (R-right) for the Michigan U.S. Senate seat. (Photo: Abdul El-Sayed, Mike Rogers) Trump had singled out El-Sayed on the campaign trail, attacking him even at events outside Michigan. The president falsely branded him a “jihadist” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood while trying to rally support for Rogers. But the Michigan-born Democrat refused to let those attacks go unanswered. ‘Not Going to Let Them Through’: Trump Readies His Revenge for a Democratic House, Setting Up a Brutal Showdown with the Black Leader He Called ‘Low IQ’ Florida Man Calls 911 on His Own Police Backup After Spotting a Black Deputy at His Door The exchange escalated during Trump’s Oct. 25 rally in Port Huron, where the president suggested El-Sayed posed a security threat. “Anyone with that record of support for jihadists would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane. They certainly should not give him a seat in the United States Senate,” Trump told the crowd at the McMorran Place Sports and Entertainment Center. “He would be the only senator that would have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” Trump continued. Then he raised his voice. “I want him to have a metal detector.” El-Sayed has denied ties to extremist groups. PolitiFact found no evidence for Trump’s claims that he was a jihadist or Muslim Brotherhood member. The Democrat answered four days later during an Oct. 29 rally at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. “Just recently he said that I should have to go through a metal detector,” El-Sayed told supporters. “He took that wolverine thing seriously. He knows I got claws,” the University of Michigan graduate joked, invoking his alma mater’s mascot. Then he turned directly to the president. “But here’s the deal, Donald, listen I’ll go through a metal detector, if you’ll sit for a lie detector.” The crowd erupted. El-Sayed kept going. “Simple. I got nothing to hide. You’ve got so much to hide. My first question: Epstein. Second question: Did you win the 2020 election?” “So, that’s the deal. I’ll go through a metal detector every day, you sit through a lie detector one time. That’s the deal.” The Epstein reference invoked Trump’s past friendship with the late convicted sex offender. Trump has denied wrongdoing related to Epstein. The president also continues to falsely claim he won the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won. El-Sayed’s response drew cheers online. “He won this round too. El Sayed is just way smarter than Trump,” one X user wrote. Another compared the Democrat’s delivery to former President Barack Obama, posting, “That clap back reminds me of someone.” “Cooked Trump,” another commenter declared. Behind the campaign’s bitter exchanges stood a candidate whose biography bore little resemblance to Trump’s portrayal. El-Sayed was born in Michigan and grew up in the Detroit suburbs. According to his campaign biography, his father immigrated from Egypt, and his stepmother’s family has lived in Michigan since the 1800s. He graduated from the University of Michigan, earned a medical degree at Columbia University, and completed a doctorate at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He later led Detroit’s Health Department. His election breaks a barrier in a chamber that has never had a Muslim senator. EL-SAYED to TRUMP: I will go through a metal detector if you will sit for a lie detector. My first question, Epstein. Second question, did you win the 2020 election? I will go through a metal detector every day if you sit through a lie detector one time. pic.twitter.com/hbnY2hyZI0— Acyn (@Acyn) October 30, 2026 ‘You’ll Sit for a Lie Detector’: Abdul El-Sayed Wins Historic Michigan Senate Seat After Turning Trump’s Attack Back on Him in Midterm Blowout ...read more read less