Chicago – September 12, 2026
Within hours of securing the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed was called a “terrorist” by one of his potential future colleagues, Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
“Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed is a RADICAL ISLAMIST who will do everything he can to destroy America,” the Alabama Republican .
Tuberville’s post wasn’t out of character, given his . It also fit squarely within a constellation of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab messaging that’s been cultivated by the political right with growing intensity over the past two years.
“We’re far beyond the 2016 presidential campaign where the use of explicit racism in political rhetoric was shocking,” said Nazita Lajevardi, professor of political science at the University of Michigan. “We are now in a world where this type of rhetoric is so commonplace that it really should shock the conscience – but it doesn’t.”
Ads around the country for state and federal campaigns have featured themes on combating “” and “,” and insisting that “Islamic movements have taken a .” Muslims make up a little over one percent of the U.S. population.
The Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonpartisan think tank, skyrocketed with El-Sayed’s primary win.
