Here We Go Again: MAGA Crashes Out Over Abdul El-Sayed Win In Michigan [Op-Ed]

MAGA Republicans just don’t seem to understand that their reliance on racism, xenophobia and general bigotry is only really influential and politically strategic within their white supremacist echo chamber. To be fair, it did get them not one, but two Donald Trump presidencies, as well as majorities in both chambers of Congress, but there’s a political pendulum that is swinging in the other direction — as evidenced by Trump’s abysmal poll approval rating and the blue wave that included the election of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani — that they seem content in ignoring, as they continue to stage MAGA rallies that are virtually indistinguishable from the Klan rallies of old.

Anyway, progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated his centrist, well-funded opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, in Michigan’s Senate primary race, and, predictably, MAGA Republicans, pundits and folks across social media are crashing out over it, not so much due to his policy ideas, but because he’s a Muslim, which, of course, means the Islamic invasion of America is real, and Republican voters are all that stand between us and Sharia law.

In fact, let’s start with something simple yet remarkably contentious in the minds of fearful MAGAts, who just can’t stay ahead of their dreaded culture war: El-Sayed’s name.

The Democratic nominee’s full name is Abdul Rahman Muhammad El Sayed, which, to normal people, is just a name. For the raging white nationalists who dominate the GOP and right-wing media, however, it’s a talking point to be mocked and fearmongered around, mostly by emphasizing it the same way Trump emphasizes “HUSSEIN” when he’s attacking former President Barack Obama.

From CNN:

National Republicans on Wednesday quickly greeted the former public health official’s victory by repeatedly employing his full name — Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed — in a press release and, soon after, in an ad.

Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana went on to refer to El-Sayed on Fox News as “Abdulrahman,” as did Fox host John Roberts. Fox host Jesse Watters started his show that night with a clip of El-Sayed helping people pronounce “Abdulrahman.”

It’s understandable that the MAGA world and its influencers believe simply pointing out the foreignness of El-Sayed’s name is enough to drive home whatever point they think they’re making. Just Wednesday, during a Las Vegas Trump rally, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo had to scold his own audience for booing a police officer and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who was shot and killed in the line of duty, because that officer’s name is Austin Abdelnabi, who was very much a white man from ‘Murica, but damned if his surname wasn’t far too Muslim-sounding for him to get the respect he deserved.

El-Sayed isn’t fazed by the mocking and intentional mangling of his name, though. In fact, he seems quite proud of it.

“That’s the only play they got. They’re gonna point at me, they’re gonna point at my name, like, ‘Wow, he’s different.’ That’s the best you got?” he said this week. “You can’t actually talk about what you want to do? My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is not taking us to war … this is the best place in the world to be Abdul.”

Nah, but seriously, what else do they have? Maybe a little fearmongering about how the big, scary Muslim wants to get rid of the holidays we love, like Christmas and Thanksgiving? I mean, he never expressed a desire to do that, but don’t tell Fox News host Jesse Watters and Sen. Rafael “Ted” Cruz that.

OK, but how about the “TERRIFYING FOOTAGE” of Muslim citizens — *checks notes* — showing up to vote.

Oh, I know what will really get’em: HE’S A TERRORIST, HE’S A TERRORIST, HE’S A TERRORIST!!!

Again, guys, this did not work when you tried it with Obama, and it did not work when you spent months trying to make Zohran “Little Muhamaad” Mamdani a communist, terrorist, 9/11-loving political pariah instead of New York City’s next mayor.

But, by all means, MAGAts — keep it up until November. I’m sure unmitigated Islamophobia will cause everyone to forget what utter failures then GOP and the Trump administration it bows down to have been come the midterms.

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