Donald Trump railed against Democratic US senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign event in Iowa Sunday, repeatedly referring to the Michigan progressive as a “jihadist”.

Trump’s comments aimed to influence a neck-and-neck race that will play an outsized role in determining which party controls the senate after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The president bashed El-Sayed, a practicing Muslim, in brazenly racist terms, saying that Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if he were elected.

“If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy,” Trump said.

The Michigan race has drawn national attention in recent days, as Hayley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the August primary election, declined to campaign with him, while demanding that he publicly disavow an outside group’s political ad that posited a link between rising prices and US military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

El-Sayed responded by telling Stevens to stay away from a campaign event at…