“You can call me Senator.” Abd al-Rahman al-Sayyid sends sarcastic messages to Trump and Vance

Democrat Abdel Rahman Al-Sayyed, who belongs to the left wing of the party, sent sarcastic messages to US President Donald Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, today (Wednesday), following his victory as a member of the US Senate from the state of Michigan.

Al-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, made history as the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.

In a new chapter of the exchange between the US President and his administration and the Democrat Abdel Rahman Al-Sayyed and his campaign during the election period, Al-Sayyed said in the victory speech that he delivered to his supporters in Detroit, that he pointed out the irony that J.D. Vance will be constitutionally obligated to complete his swearing-in ceremony next January, according to what was reported by the American “US Today” news website.

Addressing Vance, he said: “J.D., there is a funny irony in the fact that you are constitutionally required to complete my swearing-in ceremony in January.”

Then he sent a direct and sharp message to Trump, saying: “Donald, I know you find it difficult to pronounce my name. “So, after JD is sworn in in January, you can simply call me ‘Senator’.”

Before that, Al-Sayyed announced his victory, saying: “I, Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Sayyed... I feel very honored and privileged to stand here as an elected senator from the great state of Michigan.”

During his election campaign, the American President had deliberately called Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyid “Muhammad” instead of his name, and described him with terms such as “jihadi” and “leftist,” justifying this due to the difficulty of pronouncing the name or for reasons related to him.

The doctor, who hails from Michigan, succeeded in mobilizing voters around left-leaning election promises - including providing universal health care - thus securing a vital seat for the Democrats in the Senate, succeeding Senator Gary Peters, who decided to retire.

During the election race, Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyed attracted large crowds throughout the state, even in areas considered strongholds of conservative Republicans. Al-Sayyed also pledged to work to “keep money out of politics” and address the severe economic crises that made voters look forward to a new political face capable of changing the status quo.

Former US President Barack Obama praised the decisive victory achieved by the Democrats in the midterm elections, describing it as a “clear message” from voters.

The Democrats seized control of the House of Representatives and the Senate from the grip of Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, in the elections held on Tuesday, in a move that represents a decisive rejection of his administration, two years before the end of his presidential term.

Obama wrote on social media: “The American people tonight sent a clear message that they want a policy that brings people together instead of dividing them, and leaders that provide tangible solutions to the challenges they face.”

Obama, who belongs to the Democratic Party, added: “Although this administration still has two years in office, our mission now is to work hard, make changes where we have the ability to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the foundations for the future.”

Obama's most prominent appearance during the election campaign was alongside Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyed, who won the US Senate race in the state of Michigan, becoming the first Muslim to be elected to the Senate.

President Donald Trump asked voters to imagine his name was on the ballot in the midterm congressional elections, and he personally chose Republican candidates in some of the most important Senate races. By Tuesday evening, voters had rejected those candidates.

All the candidates supported by Trump lost in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and Michigan, and the preliminary results in Michigan revealed the loss of the candidate he preferred. These defeats gave Democrats control of the Senate and revealed the limits of Trump's political power, according to what Reuters reported.

Trump spent more than ten years restructuring the Republican Party to center around his “Make America Great Again” movement, as he imposed his choices in the primary elections and excluded conservative figures who he saw as not loyal to him enough or not in line with his vision. Trump has repeatedly preferred those loyal to him and those who adopt his political orientations over Republicans who have stronger support networks at the state level and have proven their ability to win elections, betting that his support for them can overcome their political weaknesses.

Tuesday's results revealed that he was unable to convince the masses of voters to support his choices.

One of the most surprising rejections was in South Carolina, which has not elected a Democratic senator since 1998 and which Trump won by 18 percentage points in 2024. Trump supported Darlene Graham, the sister of the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But Democrat Annie Andrews won the seat in a resounding upset.

In North Carolina, Trump supported Michael Whatley, a former Republican campaign official, who suffered a crushing defeat against the state's former Democratic governor, Roy Cooper.

In Texas, Trump intervened in a disputed Republican primary election to support scandal-hit Attorney General Ken Paxton at the expense of Senator John Cornyn, one of Trump's allies who some in the party considered a safer option. Democrat James Tallarico won an easy victory on Tuesday night; Giving the Democrats a seat the party had not won since 1988.

In Michigan, Democrat Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyed defeated former House of Representatives member Mike Rogers, the candidate chosen by Trump. Al-Sayyid will be the first Muslim to hold a seat in the Senate.

Reuters-Ipsos polls revealed that these defeats came at a time when Trump's popularity had declined before the start of the elections, Tuesday, from what it was in the wake of the attack that occurred on the Congressional Building (the Capitol) on January 6, 2021. This contributed to fueling fears among Republicans that the president had become a burden on the party that he had reshaped to center around his person.

“This is a Trump earthquake,” said Doug Hay, a veteran Republican expert, referring to voters’ dissatisfaction with rising prices as a result of tariffs and the war on Iran.

He added: “Trump spent the year telling voters about what matters to him, not what matters to them.”

Trump spoke in a defiant tone as the election results emerged.

Trump wrote in a post on social media on Tuesday evening: “I was not a candidate in the election, and if I had been, we would have won by a landslide!”

One White House official, who requested to remain anonymous, said that Trump “promoted many of the candidates on the ballot better than the candidates themselves did.”

A senior White House official, who also requested that his name not be published, told Reuters that the administration had poll data dating back six weeks showing that Republicans would lose both the House and the Senate, so Trump embarked on a month-long national campaign in an attempt to save the Republicans.

Some independent analysts believe that the Senate losses directly bear Trump's fingerprints. Thomas Kahn, a professor at American University, said that the president’s interference in the Republican primary elections in Texas cost his party a guaranteed seat, explaining that the nomination of Senator John Cornyn “would have achieved a certain victory for the Republicans.”

Kahn said North Carolina's case was also clear. Current Republican Senator Thom Tillis said last year that he would not seek re-election after a public dispute with Trump, who threatened to support a rival in the primary elections after he opposed the cuts to the Medicaid program included in the tax and spending bill submitted by the president.

“He effectively gave the seat to the Democrats,” Kahn added. “Roy Cooper would not have run if Thom Tillis had run for re-election.”

Pat McCrory, the former governor of North Carolina and a member of the Republican Party, said that Trump's interference in the party's primaries led to the division of Republicans in one state after another.

McCrory directed the strongest criticism at Trump's relationship with the voters who formed his electoral base.

He added: “I think that President Trump’s greatest strength was his ability to communicate with working-class people... He has lost this skill. "It is better for him to restore it for the sake of the country."