Vance and Trump Target Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed as El-Sayed Hits Back

Vice President JD Vance told a crowd in Howell, Michigan, that Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and commentator Hasan Piker would lead and cheer on rioters if unrest like the Paris protests, which have led to thousands of arrests, hit Detroit or New York. El-Sayed, a Michigan-born Egyptian American, would become the first Muslim U.S. senator if he wins next week's election. President Donald Trump has called him a jihadist and terrorist sympathizer and said he should go through a metal detector before entering the Senate. Vance had earlier called El-Sayed a representative of evil; El-Sayed replied that depriving people of healthcare and affordable groceries is the real evil. At a Grand Rapids rally on Sunday, El-Sayed said Trump objects to his first name but not to Saudis funding his son-in-law's private equity or Qataris giving him a $400 million jet, and said he would be Sen. Mohamed. On Monday, ABC's Sunny Hostin called Trump's remarks dangerous, reckless Islamophobia.

The Guardian and HuffPost, on the left, lead with the attacks and El-Sayed's response. The Guardian calls Vance's attacks extreme and details his Paris comparison and the Islamophobia El-Sayed has faced. HuffPost's headline frames the Mohamed nickname as Islamophobic and centers El-Sayed's Saudi and Qatari quotes. On the right, Breitbart reports Hostin's criticism, including her Obama comparison, while the Washington Free Beacon skips Trump's attacks and mocks El-Sayed's height and manner with reporters. It cites alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties, a 2012 letter to Egypt's Mohamed Morsi and his exchange with Fox's Bret Baier. Both sides acknowledge Trump's jihadist label, but only the left treats the attacks as the central story. Truthout echoes the left; Reason separately criticizes El-Sayed's musket remarks on the Second Amendment.