President Donald Trump heaped praise on Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in a late-night post Friday, declaring that Rogers “completely obliterated” Democratic rival Abdul El-Sayed in their Thursday night debate.
In the same post, Trump called El-Sayed a “Jihadist lunatic” and once again got the Democrat’s first name wrong.
Trump took to Truth Social at 12:02 a.m. to celebrate the Republican’s debate performance.
“Mike Rogers, the great American Patriot and Republican Candidate for the U.S.Senate from Michigan, completely obliterated Mohammad El-Sayed in the big debate tonight,” Trump wrote. “If this was a fight they would have stopped it.”
The president then turned his fire on El-Sayed, twice more replacing the Democrat’s first name with “Mohammad” or “Mohammed.”
“Mohammad is a Jihadist lunatic who hates our Country, the Black People of Detroit, and wants to see the U.S. fail,” Trump wrote. “Short on Stature, Patriotism, and Truth, Mohammed’s statements have been loaded up with lies and deceit.”
Trump closed with a direct pitch to Michigan voters.
“I won Michigan BIG, and know that Mike Rogers, a total winner, is the man for you!!!” he wrote.
It was not the first time Trump used the wrong name for the Democratic candidate. He first called El-Sayed “Mohammed” in another Truth Social post on Wednesday night. At the time, it was unclear whether the president had simply made a mistake.
El-Sayed, 41, responded Thursday morning by reposting a screenshot of Trump’s post on X.
“He knows my name is Abdul. He says it everyday,” El-Sayed wrote.
The progressive candidate argued that the president’s attacks went beyond him personally.
“But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us. He thinks so low of us,” El-Sayed wrote. “He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office.”
“He thinks we don’t know any better. It’s time for change,” he added.
The exchange came as the two candidates squared off in Thursday’s debate, where El-Sayed repeatedly hammered Rogers for backing Trump.
The Democrat zeroed in on the president’s war on Iran, which has caused gas and oil prices to spike, and tied Rogers to it.
El-Sayed also sought to paint Rogers as out of touch with Michigan voters, accusing the Republican of living in Florida and owning two yachts.
Trump, for his part, made clear he believes Rogers came out on top. The president’s post framed the debate as a lopsided win for the Republican, comparing it to a fight that should have been stopped.
The back-and-forth marks the latest flashpoint in the Michigan Senate race, with the president weighing in directly on behalf of Rogers and El-Sayed casting Trump’s attacks as an effort to distract voters from rising costs.
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