Ohio Senator Calls Michigan Candidate 'Affront' to Naturalized Citizenship

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) argued on Wednesday that Abdul El-Sayed’s Muslim faith makes him unfit for the U.S. Senate, a claim that has intensified religious attacks on the Michigan Democrat ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

Speaking at a Republican rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, Moreno defended his party’s candidate, Mike Rogers, by contrasting him with El-Sayed. The Ohio senator stated that he campaigned with Rogers because his opponent was an affront to him as an American and a naturalized citizen.

Moreno told the crowd, which included President Donald Trump, that El-Sayed should be nowhere near Washington. He questioned whether the Michigan candidate understood that rights come from God Almighty and that Jesus came for salvation. "He should be nowhere near Washington, D.C., and Mike Rogers is going to kick his ass on Tuesday," Moreno said.

El-Sayed, a public health expert and father of two, is seeking to become the first Muslim member of the U.S. Senate. His opponents have recently employed specific religious rhetoric to frame the race. At a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, over the weekend, Trump labeled El-Sayed a "jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member." The president suggested El-Sayed would need a metal detector to enter the Senate, a reference to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) echoed these themes at a GOP event in Detroit on Wednesday. Cruz called El-Sayed a "jihadist leprechaun" and linked him to the Muslim Brotherhood, a connection El-Sayed has repeatedly denied. Cruz further warned that if elected, El-Sayed could serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee, creating a risk that Americans might die.

Critics have noted that Moreno’s faith-based criteria conflict with the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion. Joe Scarborough, co-host of "Morning Joe," pointed out that such standards would also exclude Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and atheists. "It literally would not have been hard for him to just literally open a little booklet with the Constitution, and all he’d have to do is just read the First Amendment," Scarborough said on Thursday.

El-Sayed has dismissed the series of attacks as deflections based on no evidence. He told reporters on Monday that his opponents have nothing to say about solving problems in voters' lives and are not talking about the people they represent.