Trump casts doubt on Michigan vote as El-Sayed wins Senate primary

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to undermine confidence in Michigan's electoral process as progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed secured the Democratic nomination for the US Senate, singling out Detroit's Wayne County while alleging without evidence that the jurisdiction ranked among the "most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World."

Allegations of fraud

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform shortly before the Associated Press called the tight race for El-Sayed, who held 48.5 percent of the vote to Representative Haley Stevens' 47.5 percent after maintaining a narrow lead for several hours. "Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot," Trump said, providing no substantiation for the claim. He also warned of what he described as "fake mail-in ballots" potentially materializing "at the last moment" and told supporters to "Get ready for another Rigged Election" while urging them to back Republican Mike Rogers.

November matchup

Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman who ran unopposed in the GOP primary, carries Trump's endorsement into the general election contest against El-Sayed. The November showdown will determine who fills the Senate seat in the battleground state, with Trump having already signaled his intention to cast doubt on the results should El-Sayed prevail.

Character attacks

Later speaking in Nevada, Trump called El-Sayed "a man of hate" and branded him a "Communist loser" who hates "Jews and Israel," declaring the victory "great news for the Republican Party." "He doesn't love Israel, he doesn't love Jewish people, he hates them. He hates them with a passion that burns in his heart and there's not a freaking thing he can do about it," Trump said. He also insisted that "polls were wrong again," reiterated that communism poses "the greatest threat to our country in its history," and recalled his previous declaration that America would "never be a socialist country."