Trump tells Michigan to fight El-Sayed "just like Todd did" on Flight 93
Donald TrumpPresident of the United States, speaking at a campaign rally for Mike Rogers
At a Port Huron rally for Mike Rogers, Trump compared voting against Abdul El-Sayed to Todd Beamer's fight against the Flight 93 hijackers and called El-Sayed a jihadist. NBC News reported that Trump offered no evidence for his claims about El-Sayed, who has denied any tie to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight, just like Todd did, to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Mike Rogers’s 9/11 accusation against Abdul El-Sayed
After Michigan’s August 2026 Senate primary, Mike Rogers asserted that Abdul El-Sayed believed America deserved the September 11 attacks. His campaign defended that accusation by citing El-Sayed’s association with Hasan Piker and reluctance to disavow him. El-Sayed had explicitly rejected justifying 9/11 and argued that appearing with a person did not imply agreement. He described Rogers’s attacks as an effort to divide voters through Islamophobia. Pod Save America hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer later debated the strategy and construction of a related Republican ad without endorsing its factual claims.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Reuters report, published by CNBC, on President Trump's October 25 rally for Mike Rogers in Port Huron, Michigan. It quotes Trump comparing a vote against Abdul El-Sayed to the Flight 93 passengers' fight against the hijackers and notes that Rogers spoke on NBC's Meet the Press before the rally.
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About this source
NBC News report on Trump's October 25 rally in Port Huron, Michigan. It quotes Trump's remarks about Abdul El-Sayed, the speech David Beamer gave after Trump introduced him, and Mike Rogers's answer on Meet the Press when asked about Trump's description of El-Sayed.
Before the quotation
Trump spoke about Todd Beamer, the Michigan native who died on United Flight 93 after passengers fought back against the hijackers, as he introduced Beamer's father, David Beamer.
After the quotation
Trump said El-Sayed would be the only senator required to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate. David Beamer told the crowd that a birth certificate does not make El-Sayed an American.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case concerns the 9/11 accusation Rogers made against El-Sayed. At a Rogers rally, Trump carries that 9/11 framing further, likening a vote against El-Sayed to the Flight 93 passengers' resistance and calling him a jihadist. That supports the line of attack under scrutiny, so we labeled it as defending it.
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- People and groups discussed
- Abdul El-Sayed
More from this case
Read the full caseAbdul El-Sayed calls Piker’s 9/11 remark “a dumb comment” and rejects its use in the campaign
“It’s a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment. And they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power aside from his stream, rather than talk about the guy who has a lot of power to make dumb wars that we’re paying for.”Read statement
El-Sayed disavows Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and says he gives it little weight
“I do not agree with this statement, nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer. I am more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders.”Read statement
Mike Rogers renews his rationale for the 9/11-related accusation against Abdul El-Sayed
“He can’t walk away from this, and he said multiple times that he won’t disavow what [Hasan Piker] said.”Read statement
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- Trump tells Michigan to fight El-Sayed "just like Todd did" on Flight 93
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The Dispute Index. "Trump tells Michigan to fight El-Sayed "just like Todd did" on Flight 93". First published: 2026-10-28. Last updated: 2026-10-28. https://disputeindex.com/events/7067-at-a-port-huron-rally-for-mike-rogers