Trump: 'Jihadists' Being Elected 'All Over the Place'

President Donald Trump said Monday that "jihadists" are being elected "all over the place," escalating his criticism of Democrats less than three months before the midterm elections.

"Well, the one thing is, we have jihadists being elected all over the place," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, without identifying specific candidates, CNN reported.

"We have this whether it's communism, jihadism," Trump added.

Trump has frequently characterized Democrats and democratic socialists as communists as Republicans seek to portray the party as moving further to the left ahead of the November elections. He has also begun using the term "jihadists" in criticizing Democrats.

Trump said a friend had suggested the term to him.

"A friend of mine called up," Trump said, recounting that the person told him, "You know, really, you should use the word jihadist because that's what's happening."

Trump said that, "as an example," some candidates he was referring to came from countries such as Somalia.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., 

 

who was born in Somalia. Trump has previously called for Omar and another Muslim member of Congress to go "back from where they came."

Trump has also sharply criticized Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim.

At a campaign event in Las Vegas last week, Trump called El-Sayed a "hater of Jews and hater of Israel."

El-Sayed has been a critic of the Israeli government.

Over the weekend, Trump shared an image showing himself and first lady Melania Trump alongside a photograph of El-Sayed and his wife, Sarah Jukaku, who wears a hijab. The caption read, "Two very different Americas."

 

El-Sayed responded Sunday during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," agreeing that the photographs represented two different visions of the country while offering his own interpretation of the contrast.

"Yeah, he's right. One in which your overlords are two people who don't like each other but join in the interest of making billions of dollars off of you. Or, two people who genuinely love each other, enjoyed some pancakes together, want to come together to build the kind of America where they can raise a family and know that that family is going to have the good thing," El-Sayed said. "So, yes, you got two different visions of America."

National Republicans have also increased their criticism of El-Sayed since he won the Democrat nomination last week, including referring to him by his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

Trump has previously accused Democrats of being taken over by "godless Communists" and has portrayed communism as a growing threat to the country. Democratic socialists, while advocating policies substantially to the left of mainstream Democrats, distinguish their political philosophy from communism.

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