Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed turned his victory speech into a pointed reply to the two men who had attacked him throughout the campaign, telling a cheering Detroit crowd in the early hours of Wednesday, November 4, 2026: “JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.”

The Abdul El-Sayed victory speech, delivered after he beat Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate, drew its sharpest cheers when El-Sayed turned to President Donald Trump. “Donald, look, I know you struggle with my name, so after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on and call me Senator,” he said.

Key Points

• El-Sayed, 42, told supporters in Detroit that Vice President JD Vance is constitutionally obligated to swear him in when the new Congress convenes in January 2027.
• He invited President Donald Trump to “call me Senator” after Trump mocked his name during the campaign.
• El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, defeated Republican Mike Rogers, 63, to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
• Trump had called El-Sayed a “jihadist” during the campaign and said he would “have to go through a metal detector” before entering the Senate.
• Vance had called El-Sayed a “little weasel” and a “psychopath” in reports cited during the race.

What Happened

El-Sayed spoke to supporters in Detroit in the early hours of Wednesday after his Michigan Senate win was called. The room had waited through a long election night, and the senator-elect used the moment to answer, by name, the attacks that had defined the final weeks of the race.

His line to Vance carried a constitutional point as well as a taunt. As vice president, Vance presides over the Senate and swears in new senators when a new Congress convenes. El-Sayed will therefore take his oath from the man who spent the campaign insulting him, a fact he framed as “delicious irony.”

Background: A Campaign Fought Over Identity

The Michigan race to succeed Peters became one of the most bitterly fought Senate contests of the 2026 midterms. El-Sayed, a Democrat, ran on health care and economic issues, but much of the closing campaign was consumed by attacks on his background and faith.

Trump mocked El-Sayed’s name at campaign events and called him a “jihadist,” also saying he would have to pass through a metal detector before entering the Senate. Vance, meanwhile, was reported to have called him a “little weasel” and a “psychopath.” El-Sayed’s supporters said the attacks backfired, energising voters who saw them as bigotry rather than argument.

Abdul El-Sayed Victory Speech: The Lines That Landed

“JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January,” El-Sayed said, using the Arabic term of endearment, roughly meaning “my dear,” as a deliberate contrast to the hostility of the campaign. The crowd responded with cheers that carried through the rest of the speech.

He then addressed Trump directly, without raising his voice: “Donald, look, I know you struggle with my name, so after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on and call me Senator.” The line reframed the campaign’s name-mocking as a problem for the president, not for the senator-elect, and it quickly spread online as the defining moment of the night.

Reactions and Quotes

Supporters in Detroit greeted both lines as a release after months of attack ads and rallies. For El-Sayed’s campaign, the speech was presented as proof that the candidate would not be defined by his opponents’ language about him, but by the office Michigan voters had just given him.

Neither Trump nor Vance had issued a public response to the specific “habibi” and “call me Senator” lines at the time the speech was reported. The White House and the vice president’s office have not been quoted in the early reports of the speech, and any reply will be watched closely ahead of the January swearing-in.

Why It Matters

El-Sayed’s election is historic in itself: he is the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, in a state with one of America’s largest Arab American and Muslim communities. His victory speech made that history personal, insisting that the Senate chamber, its rituals and its titles belong to him as much as to anyone else.

The speech also sets the tone for a difficult relationship. The new Democratic Senate majority will have to work with a Republican White House, and its newest member arrives already in open, public conflict with both the president and the vice president. How that tension plays out in January, at the swearing-in itself, will be an early test of the new Congress.

What Happens Next

El-Sayed is expected to be sworn in when the new Congress convenes in January 2027, with Vance presiding over the Senate ceremony. Until then, he will build his Senate staff, take briefings on committee assignments and prepare a legislative agenda shaped by the health care and economic issues at the centre of his campaign.

Michigan’s result will also be certified through the state’s normal process, and Rogers, 63, a former congressman, has already been defeated in a race that drew national attention. For El-Sayed, the next test is no longer winning an argument on a Detroit stage, but turning a victory speech into a Senate record.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Abdul El-Sayed say to JD Vance?

He said: “JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.” As vice president, Vance presides over the Senate and swears in new senators.

What did El-Sayed say to Donald Trump?

He said: “Donald, look, I know you struggle with my name, so after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on and call me Senator.”

Why is El-Sayed’s election historic?

He is the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate, after beating Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s race to succeed retiring Senator Gary Peters.

When will El-Sayed be sworn in?

He is expected to take his oath when the new Congress convenes in January 2027, in a Senate ceremony presided over by Vice President JD Vance.

What did Trump and Vance say about El-Sayed during the campaign?

Trump mocked his name, called him a “jihadist” and said he would have to go through a metal detector before entering the Senate. Vance was reported to have called him a “little weasel” and a “psychopath.”

Read also: Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate race and Trump's Dubuque rally attacks on El-Sayed.