Abdul El-Sayed makes history as first Muslim elected to US Senate

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers after a hard-fought race in Michigan.

The Egyptian-American doctor and progressive leader won despite a relentless barrage of Islamophobic attacks throughout his campaign.

President Donald Trump repeatedly targeted El-Sayed, even calling him a “jihadist”.

“He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” Trump said during a campaign rally in Michigan.

El-Sayed also overcame opposition from within his own party. Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the August Democratic Senate primary, broke ranks to endorse his Republican rival, Mike Rogers.

“America’s greatness is not about ignoring our flaws; it’s the courage that we have to correct them,” El-Sayed said after claiming victory.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to pay your taxes and know that that money is going to be spent on you and your kids instead of dropping bombs on somebody else and their kids,” he said, underscoring his message of opposition to US wars, reports AL Jazeera.