By Islam El-Sakka
President Donald Trump went on a Truth Social posting binge in the early hours of Election Day, launching inflammatory attacks against Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and issuing a flurry of endorsements for Republican candidates.
Early morning attacks on El-Sayed
At 12:52 a.m., Trump posted that El-Sayed "hates Jews and hates Blacks" and added "he also Hates Whites," urging voters not to support him in the Michigan Senate race.
Alaska race and endorsement surge
At 1:12 a.m., Trump claimed a candidate in Alaska's Senate race had disappeared, suggesting kidnapping by "corrupt Democrat lawyers." Starting around 7 a.m., his account posted 71 endorsements for GOP candidates within an hour, according to Roll Call's database.
Michigan Senate race context
Michigan is a key battleground state. A New York Times-Siena poll showed El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers 53 percent to 42 percent. Democratic Representative Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers, citing a "deeply personal" conflict over Israel policy and feeling shut out of El-Sayed's campaign.
Trump's repeated targeting of El-Sayed
Trump has repeatedly labeled El-Sayed a "jihadist" and referred to him as "Abdul Ramadan" at rallies and online, posting about him more than 40 times. El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim U.S. senator if elected, has turned the attacks on his faith back on the president, quipping that Trump is trying to "impose Ramadan on everybody else" amid high grocery prices.
Fundraising surge for El-Sayed
Stevens' endorsement of Rogers triggered a $2.4 million fundraising windfall for El-Sayed's campaign, which received over 65,000 individual donations on Sunday, nearly half from first-time donors, according to campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak.
