‘He's a man of hate’: 5 explosive exchanges in Trump and Abdul El-Sayed’s war of words

Trump wasted little time weighing in after El-Sayed emerged victorious from Michigan's fiercely contested Democratic Senate primary. He zeroed in on the progressive candidate during a speech in Las Vegas, branding him a "man of hate" and declaring, "When I watch Abdul, he's full of sh*t." The president also called him a "communist" while attacking his views on Israel and accusing him of hostility toward Jewish people, claiming El-Sayed did not "love Israel" or Jewish people. Trump further cast the Democrat's primary victory as good news for Republicans heading into the general election.

The feud took an unexpected turn when Trump brought Melania and El-Sayed's wife into the conversation. The president posted a photograph of himself with first lady Melania Trump next to an image of El-Sayed with his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku. Above the images, Trump wrote: "Two VERY DIFFERENT Americas." The post offered little explanation, leaving Trump's followers, and El-Sayed himself, to interpret exactly what distinction the president was trying to make.

El-Sayed made clear that he is not planning to respond to Trump's provocations with conventional political language. When asked by a reporter about Trump's declaration that he was "full of sh*t," El-Sayed delivered a deliberately crude comeback referencing the president and the Oval Office. "At least I don't let mine go in the Oval Office," El-Sayed said in a widely circulated clip. The remark quickly traveled across social media, underscoring a strategy that has become increasingly apparent since his primary victory: El-Sayed is not attempting to stay above Trump's personal attacks.

Appearing on CNN's 'State of the Union,' El-Sayed was asked directly about Trump's side-by-side photograph. His answer began unexpectedly, "Yes, he's right." Then El-Sayed made the exchange considerably more personal. After discussing the America he wants for his daughters, he returned to Trump's decision to compare photographs of the two couples. "Actually, Sarah and I like each other," El-Sayed told host Jake Tapper. "I don't know about the first lady and the president, but, from what I have heard, it's a bit of a rocky road."

El-Sayed's response did not stop with Trump's marriage. During his CNN appearance, the Democrat accused the president of focusing on ethnic identity and deploying what El-Sayed characterized as "Islamophobic dog whistles." El-Sayed, who is Muslim and of Egyptian descent, has faced scrutiny over his identity during his political career and would become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate if he wins in November. But he mixed that serious allegation with ridicule, taking a swipe at Trump's well-known interest in redesigning the White House, "If he's not talking about me, he's talking about the drapes in his ballroom."

Behind the insults is a Senate race with potentially major consequences. El-Sayed now faces Republican Mike Rogers in a battleground state that Trump has carried twice. Republicans are likely to use El-Sayed's progressive record, his support for Medicare for All, and his views on Israel to argue that he is outside Michigan's political mainstream. El-Sayed, meanwhile, is trying to turn the election into a referendum on Trump as much as on Rogers. On CNN, he argued that Democrats should unite around "a responsibility to stand up to Donald Trump" and accused Rogers of being prepared to act as a "rubber stamp" for the president.