Sara Guglielmetti El-Sayed is the first Muslim senator in US history. The son of Egyptian immigrants, he recently won the Democratic Senate seat in Michigan in the midterm elections. Here's his victory speech.
El-Sayed: The First Muslim Senator in the United States
Abdul El-Sayed is the first Muslim senator in US history.
During the midterm elections , he was the one who won the Senate seat for the Democrats in the state of Michigan. After his victory was announced, he took the stage, joined shortly after by his wife , Sarah Jukaku, also a doctor, wearing a hijab. She, too, is Muslim, but originally from India, and met her husband at university through a Muslim student organization.
El Sayed: “I just want to thank my wonderful wife of 20 years. For everything she does at home. There are many nights when you can't sleep in your own bed, and I knew as I traveled across the country that our two little girls would be well cared for.”
El-Sayed: First speech after winning the midterm elections
On the victorious stage in Michigan, these were El-Sayed's first words: "My name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, and I am truly proud and honored to be here , as your Senator-elect, representing the great State of Michigan ." El-Sayed, as previously mentioned, is the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and his religion was used by his opponents during the election campaign to attack him. Donald Trump in particular has often joked about the candidate's Arabic name, an issue El-Sayed himself mentioned during his speech: "We've shown that, in the battle between money and ordinary people, ordinary people can actually win. And to all the kids who've been following this story over the last month, to all the parents who've struggled to explain why the president would openly mock someone for their name or the way they pray: tell them tomorrow that the 'bad guys' lost . They're trying to paint you as a hateful person if you believe that Palestinian children should be able to grow up in the land of their ancestors, without being killed with our tax dollars. If you believe in the equal rights of all to peace, dignity, and self-determination, that's not hate. It's love. Michiganders, we want our tax dollars spent here, on our home turf . "