Abdul El-Sayed Epically Claps Back After Trump Mocks His Name In Islamophobic Rant

Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed had a smooth response after President Donald Trump mocked El-Sayed's name during a campaign rally.

El-Sayed, an epidemiologist who is running as a democratic socialist, has been accused of being a member of the "radical left" and has also been the target of Islamophobic rhetoric.

Republicans have been working overtime to construct a narrative that connects El-Sayed to Islamic terrorism. El-Sayed recently had to respond to and shut down viral conspiracy theories suggesting he's a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Trump has amplified these conspiracies and slandered El-Sayed during a recent campaign rally in support of El-Sayed's GOP opponent, Mike Rogers.

Trump said the following while mocking El-Sayed's name:

"His name is actually Abduladadalalalala. It's Adulbabababababa Mohammed Al-Sayed. So his middle name is Mohammed. So I was right, almost."

"So how about that guy? He's a jihadist. He's a radical leftist that hates our country. He's a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. How about putting him on the Senate Intelligence Committee?"

You can hear what Trump said in the video below.

Trump's remarks quickly caught El-Sayed's attention—and El-Sayed suggested the president has no trouble pronouncing Arabic names in dealings with Qatar and Saudi Arabia:

"He says the name just fine when he’s begging the Qataris for a personal jet or the Saudis for funding for his son-in-law’s private equity firm. Wonder what’s changed?"

You can see El-Sayed's response below.

Indeed, Trump was criticized last year after he claimed the Pentagon would be accepting a Boeing 747-8 “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE” to serve as a temporary replacement for Air Force One.

The statement followed reports that his administration had agreed to take a luxury aircraft from the Qatari royal family, which was fully outfitted for presidential use during a potential second term, according to two individuals with knowledge of the arrangement. Trump described the handoff as occurring “in a very public and transparent transaction.”

During his Middle East trip in May 2025, Trump defended the controversial proposal to accept the luxury jet and questioned why should "our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done."

He spent days repeatedly defending the Qatari offer, even as legal experts and longtime allies raised concerns about the propriety and potential legality of accepting such an extravagant gift—especially given the cost of retrofitting the jet with the necessary secure communications and defense systems to function as Air Force One.

Trump was also harshly criticized last year after he pushed back against concerns about hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Oval Office due to the Crown Prince's involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump even suggested that Khashoggi deserved it because people "didn't like" him.

Saudi Arabia had initially denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance but claimed via state media in October 2018 that he had been strangled in a fistfight with 15 men sent to confront him at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The Kingdom blamed some of the Crown Prince’s inner circle for the murder, and several high-ranking officials were dismissed if not detained outright.

The intelligence community has concluded that the Crown Prince ordered Khoshoggi's murder. In fact, sources familiar with Khashoggi’s case told reporters that Khashoggi’s murder “was organized by a high-ranking officer with the General Intelligence Presidency, Saudi Arabia’s main intelligence service.” Khashoggi’s body was cut into pieces after he was killed, according to a Turkish official.

Trump claimed during his first term there was “nothing definitive” linking the Crown Prince to the murder. Trump characterized Saudi Arabia’s explanation for Khashoggi’s killing as “credible,” but defended his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s close relationship with the Crown Prince amid concerns that it had become a liability for the White House.

At the time, he said they're simply "two young guys" and that "Jared doesn’t know him well or anything" despite evidence of the close relationship between the two men.

Many echoed El-Sayed's remarks and shared their own criticism of the president.

Thus far, El-Sayed has taken the Islamophobic rhetoric he faces on a daily basis in stride.

El-Sayed said in a recent interview that these attacks only underscore how much Republicans "want to distract you from the issues at hand." He said Republicans "want to talk about me and my name as if me and my name are causing the problems."

Noting that many Americans are struggling with an affordability crisis, he stressed that these problems "are in fact caused by their boss, Donald Trump, who they cannot deviate from because, of course, he rules their party with an iron fist.”