Trump Slams Michigan Senate Candidate El-Sayed, Warns Against ‘Communism’
President Donald Trump launched a sharp verbal assault on Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, characterizing him as “full of s—” and broadly accusing the Democratic party of veering towards communism. These strong remarks came just hours after El-Sayed secured a narrow victory in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, edging out Rep. Haley Stevens by a margin of less than one percent. The race, called early Wednesday by The Associated Press, sets up a November contest between El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers for the Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters.
Trump’s Warning on ‘Greatest Threat’
During a speech in Las Vegas, Trump dedicated significant time to criticizing candidates who identify as democratic socialists. He asserted that these politicians are actively promoting communist ideologies, which he declared to be “the greatest threat” facing the United States today. He didn’t mince words, describing such figures as “dangerous” and “lunatics.” The White House later reinforced this message on social media, posting a stark statement: “Communism is the greatest threat to our country.”
Trump painted a grim picture of life under communist policies, using hypothetical scenarios to illustrate his point. “Would you like a free house? We’ll take one from your neighbor,” he posited, continuing with examples like seizing property from landlords for free rent. He warned that such policies would ultimately lead to “death, squalor, poverty” and a “life of hell” for Americans.
To underscore his concerns, the president pointed to Venezuela as a cautionary tale. He recalled the South American nation as a once-wealthy country that has since descended into “squalor, filth, crime, death, destruction, embarrassment.” He emphasized that losing one’s home and apartment are common outcomes in such systems.
El-Sayed in the Crosshairs
The president then specifically named Abdul El-Sayed, eliciting one of the most significant audience reactions of the evening. “When I watch Abdul, he’s full of s—,” Trump declared. El-Sayed’s primary win positions him as the progressive nominee in a highly anticipated Senate race. His campaign, which garnered support from figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, focused on policies such as Medicare for All, campaign finance reform, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel. Despite these progressive stances, El-Sayed has identified himself as a capitalist and has sought to distance himself from the Democratic Socialists of America, though Republicans have frequently linked him to the broader democratic socialist movement.
Skipping Socialism for Communism?
Trump revisited a theme he has often emphasized, recalling a statement from a past State of the Union address: “America will never be a socialist country.” He asserted his past prediction was correct. However, he argued that the current trajectory for Democrats involves not just socialism, but a leap directly to communism. “What I didn’t say is what they’re trying to do. They want to skip socialism. They want to go right down to the bottom of the barrel. That’s communism,” Trump stated. He vowed, “We’re not letting them have it as a communist country, not even for a minute.”
Concluding his remarks on the topic, Trump pledged to combat what he perceives as the Democratic Party’s leftward shift. “Together we will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism in America once and for all,” he proclaimed. “It’s defeated. It’s going to go down. It always goes down.”
The White House and El-Sayed’s campaign had not immediately responded to requests for comment following the speech.
