‘Self-dealing liars’: Abdul El-Sayed takes aim at Trump, Mike Rogers over AI
WASHINGTON, DC: Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed accused President Donald Trump of putting short-term political interests ahead of the risks he sees in artificial intelligence.
El-Sayed argued that Trump is resisting meaningful limits on AI because AI-related stocks, chips, and data centers are helping keep the market in positive territory.
The Democratic nominee made the accusation on X on Sunday, September 20, after Trump previously called him a “communist” and said he was “full of s**t” during a speech.
We need to be absolutely clear. Donald Trump is trying to forestall any meaningful limit on AI development, which even the people developing it say has a serious chance of dooming humanity, for one reason. The midterms. AI and its chips and data centers are the only thing keeping…
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) September 20, 2026
Abdul El-Sayed ties Trump’s AI position to the Senate race
El-Sayed said Trump is “trying to forestall any meaningful limit on AI development,” citing concerns he attributed to people developing the technology about its potential risks to humanity.
He then tied the issue directly to the November Senate race, writing, “And that’s what you’ll get if his st**ges like Mike Rogers wins. Short-term, self-dealing liars.”
Republican Mike Rogers is El-Sayed’s opponent in the Michigan Senate race.
El-Sayed argued that Trump has a political reason to avoid constraints on AI, saying the sector is among the factors “keeping the stock market in the black right now.”
He also pointed to broader economic pressures, writing that Trump does not want the market’s problems to worsen “as gas and grocery prices soar.”
The post sharpened El-Sayed’s criticism by accusing the president of putting political interests ahead of what El-Sayed described as a major technological risk.
He wrote that Trump is “putting his short-term political interests over the huge risk AI poses.”
Trump and Abdul El-Sayed have traded sharp attacks
El-Sayed has also directly clashed with Trump during the Senate campaign.
In August, Trump described himself and First Lady Melania Trump as representing a “VERY DIFFERENT” America from El-Sayed and his wife, Sarah Jukaku.
Asked about the post, El-Sayed told CNN, “Yeah, he’s right,” before contrasting his own vision with Trump’s and arguing over whether Americans can afford gas and groceries.
Trump later called El-Sayed a communist during a speech and said he was “full of s**t.”
El-Sayed responded to Sky News: “At least I don’t let mine go in the middle of the Oval Office.”
The exchange added another point of conflict between the president and the Democratic nominee, who has also said he is a capitalist who wants capitalism to work better.
Abdul El-Sayed is set for a Senate fight with Mike Rogers
El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat and is set to face Rogers, a former US representative and the Republican nominee, in November.
The Michigan contest has also brought direct criticism from El-Sayed over Rogers’ relationship with Trump.
During a September 9 speech in Dallas, Trump urged voters to support Rogers, calling him “great.”
El-Sayed’s broader campaign message has included opposition to inequality and calls for taxing billionaires, medicare for all, stronger union protections and action against monopolies.
He has also rejected Republican efforts to portray him as radical, saying, “It’s not radical to believe that people should be able to afford their groceries,” and arguing that Americans should have health care and clean air and water.
He said Republicans and Trump would try to “paint me as a certain thing, given my name,” while arguing that America is broader than the country represented by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Rogers.
