During a Tennessee campaign event held approximately 50 miles northwest of Nashville, former President Donald Trump referred to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as "Mohammed" — a name that does not belong to him — and stated that he saw no obligation to use the candidate's actual name. El-Sayed's given first name is Abdul, and Trump had applied the same incorrect name to him on several earlier occasions.

El-Sayed, a 41-year-old epidemiologist, faces Republican Mike Rogers in a November Senate contest that has drawn considerable national attention. Should El-Sayed prevail, he would become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

At the rally in Clarksville, Trump described the preceding four years as a period when, in his words, people he characterised as mentally unhinged had taken control. During the address, Trump contended that the opposing party had been acting against the country's interests and called for that group to be barred from holding office.

On several occasions, Trump applied the label "Jihadist lunatic who hates our Country" to El-Sayed — a characterisation El-Sayed's campaign has disputed. Trump also repeatedly used the name "Mohammed" for El-Sayed while claiming not to remember his actual name.

At the rally, when an audience member pointed out that "Mohammed" was not the candidate's name, Trump acknowledged the actual name — "Abdul" — before stating that he would continue using "Mohammed" instead, adding a reference to his holding the presidency. Speaking to an audience that responded with applause, Trump announced his intention to refer to El-Sayed as Mohammed, described him as a radical jihadist, and asserted his right to use whatever name he chose.

Trump went on to characterise El-Sayed as someone with ties to jihadist ideology, raising his voice to emphasise that he did not want a person holding such associations to serve as Michigan's senator. He paired those remarks with a reference to his electoral margin in the state, noting that he had carried Michigan by a wide margin.

Following a televised debate between El-Sayed and Rogers for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat, Trump posted on Truth Social in support of Rogers — again referring to El-Sayed by an incorrect name — stating that Rogers had won the exchange by a wide margin and that, if the contest had been athletic in nature, it would have been called off before its conclusion. In that post, Trump described El-Sayed as harbouring hostility toward the United States and the residents of Detroit, and separately alleged that El-Sayed's public comments contained inaccuracies.

Trump's social media posts also attached labels including "radical extremist" and "terrorist sympathizer" to El-Sayed. El-Sayed replied on X, stating that Trump is aware his name is Abdul.

Trump's remarks at the rally also included the assertion that El-Sayed holds Michigan voters in low regard, with Trump invoking El-Sayed's name and religious identity while attributing economic and healthcare pressures to El-Sayed's policy positions. The remarks were delivered in the context of three consecutive White House campaigns — those of 2016, 2020, and 2024 — which Trump cited as the basis for an expression of gratitude to supporters.