‘A Trojan Horse’: GOP Escalates Anti-Muslim Campaign Against Abdul El-Sayed

Abdul El-Sayed departs with his wife, Sarah Jukaku after a press conference declaring victory in the Democratic primary election for U.S.

Senate in Detroit on August 5, 2026. —Jeff Kowalsky—AFP via Getty Images Back in March, Republicans thought they had found the avatar for everything their base needed to fear in James Talarico .

The never-married boyish seminarian who ran a remarkable campaign to become the Democrats’ Senate nominee in Texas got almost everything hurled at him: false allegations that he’s vegan, nicknames like “Talafreako,” whisper campaigns about his personal life.

None of it stuck.

Talarico continues to enjoy a slight edge in polling in a race that is on track to become the most expensive Senate campaign in U.S. history.

Now, a similar effort is underway to make Abdul El-Sayed the new face of the Democratic Party.

This time, it’s not just the far-right ecosystem that has a problem with the newly nominated Senate hopeful.

Jewish voters and staunch supporters of Israel are no fan of El-Sayed’s criticisms of Israel or his decision to campaign with Hasan Piker , an activist who has been accused of anti-Semitism. (El-Sayed has repeatedly declined to say if he’d campaign again with Piker, who has walked back his previous statements that the United States deserved 9/11.) Michigan’s Attorney General, Democrat Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, plans to skip the state party’s Aug.

29 convention out of fear for her safety in an environment where, she says, party officials aren’t doing enough to combat anti-Semitism.

It’s created a surprising coalition of El-Sayed skeptics that Republicans are more than eager to inflate.

After trying and failing to make hay out of Talarico’s lifestyle and personal life, their approach with El-Sayed is much simpler: he’s Muslim.

“Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse, and a threat to both national security and our republic,” tweeted Rep.

Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

Piped up MAGA influencer Laura Loomer: “As I have been saying for years, Muslims need to be treated like enemy combatants.” “Two VERY DIFFERENT Americas,” President Donald Trump posted with an image of two married couples—Trump and his wife on the left, El-Sayed and his hijab-wearing wife on the right.