Trump attacks Rep. Ilhan Omar and Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed

As Trump looked out, smiling at his gaggle of MAGA faithful, chants of ‘deport' rang out over the crowd. Trump had just finished a tirade insulting Rep. Ilhan Omar and Senate-hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, leaning on messages of islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments that run rampant through his voter base. Trump made the comments on October 12, at a Republican rally in Youngstown, Ohio. Trump's racist and xenophobic comments came as no surprise, but experts warn the President needs to take care not to drive away his centrist voters even further than he has.

Who is Rep. Ilhan Omar?

Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) has been a U.S. Representative for nearly ten years, first being elected in 2017. Born in Somalia, a country commonly connected with violence and tragedy, she became the first Somali-American legislator in United States history. She has been revered by her constituents since she was first elected in 2017, and she's been a target of racist and sexist comments from Donald Trump since her initial election as well. Just recently, her residence in Washington, D.C. was raided by ICE as part of a ‘years-long investigation'.

Trump insults Omar

Trump has insulted Omar for years, and according to her, the search of her residence is an escalation of his tactics for political intimidation. In his speech from Ohio, Trump used just a few of his go-to strategies. Trump called Somalia a place with no laws, and called it one of the worst places in the world. He then criticized Omar for believing she had rights in America. Trump insinuated that immigrants do not have or deserve rights while in the US, and he repeatedly denied her status as an American.

Who is Abdul El-Sayed

Senate-hopeful Abdul El-Sayed (MN) was born in Michigan and is the son of Egyptian immigrants. El-Sayed has made headlines over the last two months, using his filterless style of communication to thwart right-wing reporters. Coined as the ‘filterless Mamdani', El-Sayed identifies as a capitalist, but has received endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). What most right-leaning voters don't know is that Abdul El-Sayed is about as American as they come. In high school, El-Sayed captained the football, lacrosse, and wrestling teams. He later played lacrosse at the University of Michigan and, after giving the commencement speech in his graduating year, Bill Clinton told him to pursue a political career.

Trump insults El-Sayed

To Trump, it doesn't matter that El-Sayed played more sports, graduated with better grades, and was an outstanding member of Phi Beta Kappa than Trump. All that matters is that his name is hard to pronounce. Trump insulted El-Sayed multiple times, and even called him a jihadist midway through his speech. Trump then praised El-Sayed's opponent in Michigan, before calling El-Sayed a jihadist once again. Trump ended his tirade with a xenophobic power bar.

After the line, the crowd broke out once again into cheers of ‘deport,' chanting the word over and over again as Trump grinned gleefully out at them. As the crowd grew in volume, Trump added one more line, calling out, “They don't belong in America. Better get them the hell out of here.” While El-Sayed did not immediately comment on the racist insults, though he made comments on Trump in general at a rally the week before.