It came after Donald Trump shared an image contrasting himself and his wife Melania with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife.

The graphic, posted on Trump's Truth Social account following El-Sayed's victory in the Democratic primary for the US Senate in Michigan, showed Trump and Melania in formal evening wear alongside a casual photograph of El-Sayed and his wife Sarah, wearing a hijab, sitting together in a restaurant.

Above the images were the words "Two VERY DIFFERENT America's", with "very different" highlighted in red. The graphic also contained a grammatical error, using the possessive "America's" instead of the plural "Americas".

It labelled the two couples "Donald J. Trump" and "Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed", prominently using the Democrat's full Arabic name while showing his wife wearing the hijab.

Trump offered no further explanation of what he intended the comparison to convey.

El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American Muslim physician and epidemiologist, responded during an appearance on CNN by accepting Trump's claim that the two photographs represented different visions of the country, before turning the comparison against the president.

"Yeah, he's right," El-Sayed said.

"Donald Trump's vision is the one you're living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they're going to have a better future than you did?"

El-Sayed said he and his wife wanted their daughters, Emmalee and Shireen, to grow up in an America where families had access to healthcare and good jobs, and could "breathe clean air and drink clean water".

He also accused the US of tolerating stark inequality between neighboring communities.

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El-Sayed ended his response with a personal jab at Trump.

"Sarah and I like each other," he said. "I don't know about the First Lady and the President, but from what I've heard, it's a bit of a rocky road."

The image was also amplified approvingly by Trump ally and Islamophobic activist Laura Loomer, who explicitly linked it to calls for restrictions on Muslim immigration.

"We need another Trump Islamic travel ban," Loomer wrote on X. "But this time, it needs to be permanent."

"We desperately need this if we don't want to turn into the UK. It's simply common sense immigration policy," she added.

Loomer also claimed support for such measures had declined because "Muslim countries started paying off conservative podcasters".

Her intervention came amid anti-Muslim attacks directed at El-Sayed following his primary victory, with critics accusing Trump of playing into hostility towards the candidate's Muslim identity.

US journalist Ahmed Baba described Trump's post as an "Islamophobic attack".

Others sought to turn the image's intended contrast back on the president.

"You posted this thinking we'd see a threat," activist GM wrote.

"All I see is a power couple with actual degrees, actual public service, and actual grace. Keep scrolling, Donald."

Source: newarab.com