WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) escalated his rhetoric against Muslim communities, particularly Democratic candidates from those communities, ahead of the midterm elections, with his latest social media post targeting Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Sharing an image on Truth Social, Trump showed the Democratic candidate standing in front of a crowd that included women wearing hijabs, with the text above the image reading, "They are coming for your home and your belongings."
The post came two days after Trump shared an image on Truth Social of himself with first lady Melania Trump alongside an image of El-Sayed and his wife. The text above the images read: "Two VERY DIFFERENT America's."
Trump's latest attack on the Democratic candidate, who last week secured the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Michigan, defeating establishment-backed Representative Haley Stevens in a closely watched primary election, came after he criticised candidates representing the Democratic Party in the midterm elections while speaking to reporters during the signing of an executive order calling for spacing out childhood vaccines.
Trump, in his remark, said that "Jihadists" are being elected as democratic primaries, labelling their ideas on policy changes as 'stupid'.
"One thing is we have jihadists being elected all over the place. We have this, whether it's communism or jihadism. It's a lot of friends of mine called up. He said you should use the word 'jihadist' because that's what's happening. And I'm not sure that anybody, if you take a look at what happens in other countries, I think that's not going to be necessarily the way we want to live. But when you look at the radicalism and the craziness of the candidates and the stupidity of what they're suggesting," Trump said.
Trump also stepped up his criticism of people of Somali descent, claiming they were "not smart", lacked aptitude and had "nothing going", while accusing them of telling Americans how to run the country.
Trump did not name a specific candidate initially but later targeted El-Sayed on his post on Truth Social.
The remarks came amid El-Sayed's recent political success. Progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed has secured the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Michigan, defeating establishment-backed Representative Haley Stevens in a closely watched primary election that marks a significant victory for the party's progressive wing.