Republicans made El-Sayed a top midterm target. The Democrat wants to talk about Michigan voters

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republicans are working aggressively to make Abdul El-Sayed the face of the opposition.

The Democratic Senate nominee from Michigan was a frequent punching bag during this week's GOP convention , where a steady stream of Republicans singled him out. They attacked his progressive views, his ties to a far-left commentator and his Muslim faith , elevating his profile as they look to paint all Democrats as radical extremists.

Mike Rogers , El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, alleged the Democrat is being funded by “terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood” but offered no proof to back up his claim. President Donald Trump called him an “extremist” and attacked the political views of members of his family.

Several speakers used his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. He would be the nation's first Muslim senator.

A day after the confab ended, El-Sayed campaigned in East Lansing, a college town where he's counting on strong support from young voters, and downtown Lansing, where he spoke in front of a crowd that ranged from college students to retirees.

“They want to point to me and my name and my faith as if somehow that’s the problem, but none of those things are what’s raising your gas prices or making a new home unaffordable,” he told reporters, shifting the conversation to the economic anxiety that Democrats want voters to be thinking about when they cast their ballots.

He also criticized the trade war with Canada — to which Michigan’s auto industry is particularly vulnerable — and wars overseas.

El-Sayed later said he wishes he didn’t have as much of a national profile.

“At the end of the day, I’m a lot more interested in the future of Michiganders than the future of a party,” El-Sayed said at Friday's second event. “I didn’t run because I was interested in having all of these big national debates.”

About 400 students filled an auditorium at Michigan State University’s student union, some standing along the walls after chairs filled. The event, billed as a students versus billionaires town hall, turned students away when the room hit capacity. Many of those shut out stood outside and booed when the doors were closed.

Students inside the venue asked questions about healthcare policy, data centers and affordable housing. The crowd cheered when El-Sayed talked about taking money out of politics, implementing universal healthcare and winning his primary against Rep. Haley Stevens despite her campaign having more cash.

Many of the GOP's attacks focused on comments by Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who campaigned with El-Sayed ahead of the bitter Democratic primary. In a 2019 stream, Piker said “America deserved 9/11.” He has since apologized. El-Sayed called the comment “dumb" and has distanced himself from Piker , saying last month that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”

Several hundred more people turned out for a second event nearby, packing into a concert hall in downtown Lansing.

“Progressive candidates are rising up, and this is kind of the moment for them to bring their platform to the country," 68-year-old Joseph Fabiano said.

Republicans are facing a tough midterm election environment, with only about a third of Americans approving of Trump’s job performance . The push to frame Democrats as radicals serves as both red meat to energize the GOP base and a warning to disaffected Trump voters considering switching sides or just staying home this November.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, was among those who called out El-Sayed during the GOP convention, saying he is an “evil man” who “pals around with people who believe Americans deserved to be attacked on 9/11.” Rep. Brandon Gill, a Texas Republican, called El-Sayed “an extremist who sympathized with terrorists.”

Meanwhile, El-Sayed still faces divisions in his own party after his bruising primary against Stevens, which drove a wedge between Democrats with conflicting views on Israel, Piker and progressive economics.

El-Sayed implicitly confronted the attacks on his background with an ad that features his white grandparents.

“Where did Abdul El-Sayed come from?” his grandma asks melodramatically, mimicking the tone of attack ads. “We helped raise him,” she adds.

Cooper reported from Phoenix. GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.