Donald Trump lost both houses of Congress, but Michigan added a personal insult to the defeat. The man who spent the campaign calling Abdul El-Sayed "Mohammed" now has to learn a new title. After winning a Senate seat, Abdul addressed him, in effect, saying: Don't wear yourself out, Donald. Just call me "Senator."
In the state that chose Trump two years ago, Americans elected a doctor of Egyptian descent, making him the first Muslim to enter the Senate. Trump referred to him as a "jihadist" and demanded that he pass through a metal detector before entering the chamber. But Michigan voters, preoccupied with gas prices and groceries, decided that the Arabic name weighed less on their pockets than the bills for the war with Iran.
Trump began his first term by imposing restrictions on the entry of citizens from majority-Muslim countries. Nearly a decade later, a Muslim American is entering the Senate with the votes of Americans. It seems no one told the president that his authority over borders does not extend to ballot boxes. He can issue orders about who enters the country, but who enters Congress is a constitutional loophole for which he has yet to find an executive order to close.
J.D. Vance also plays a special role in this irony. In January, Abdul will stand before him to take the oath of office. The vice president who attacked him during the campaign will formally participate in his entry into the Senate. Abdul called him "habibi" as he reminded him of this appointment. But perhaps Vance should remember the name well. The new senator, born in Michigan to Egyptian parents, meets all the constitutional requirements to run for president. Vance may find himself facing him again in 2028, this time in the race for the White House. Then, he may discover that taking the oath was much easier than debating his "habibi" in a presidential race.
As for Trump, during the campaign, he asked Americans to imagine his name on the ballot. After the defeat, he reminded them that it had not been on it in the first place. A rare talent for taking credit for any victory while remaining a neutral spectator when it comes to defeat.
He can now blame the candidates, the polls, and the media. Meanwhile, Abdul El-Sayed has secured his seat and his name on the door of his new office.
Trump wanted to subject "Mohammed," as he calls him, to a metal detector at the Senate entrance. But Abdul will enter through the main door, while the president will spend the next two years looking for a back door through which to push his projects.
