During a campaign rally in Georgia, President Donald Trump referenced the name “Mohammed” again, weaving it into a joke about names from the Middle East.
While addressing supporters at Dalton Municipal Airport on Friday, he remarked that anyone unfamiliar with names from that region could take a guess and likely get it right, as noted by Reuters.
“You know, I took a lot of heat for calling him Mohammed,” Trump stated. “I don’t care. I’m the president of the United States. I can call you whatever the hell I want. I can call you whatever I want, Mohammed.”
President Trump on calling U.S. Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) ‘Mohammed’: “I don’t care, I’m the President of the United States. I can call you whatever the hell I want.” https://t.co/6SG6LMSDdz
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 16, 2026
Muslim advocacy groups have often accused Trump of belittling their communities, and a report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations this year connected the increase in anti-Muslim sentiments, at least in part, to his immigration policies, according to Reuters.
Nine days earlier, before a debate, Trump had used the same name when discussing Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee. He referred to the candidate as “Mohammed El-Sayed” and labeled him a “RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer” who “goes back to the days of the Jihad,” as per a post on Truth Social.
In response, Abdul El-Sayed, whose full name is Abdulrahman, addressed Trump’s comments the following morning. “He knows my name is Abdul. He says it every day,” El-Sayed posted on X. El-Sayed is a Muslim physician, born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, according to The Hill.
He knows my name is Abdul. He says it every day. But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us. He thinks so low of us. He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office. He thinks we don’t know any better. It’s time for change.
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) October 8, 2026
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer labeled Trump’s comments as bigoted, as reported by The Hill.
El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers, who has Trump’s endorsement, for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, according to AP. They had a heated first debate on October 8 in Grand Rapids and are set to meet again on October 21. El-Sayed has been significantly outspent in advertising, trailing nearly two-to-one.
