Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Representative Haley Stevens traded sharply critical comments Friday, escalating intraparty tensions in Michigan’s pivotal Senate race.

© Nic Antaya for The New York Times

Stephen Hubbard said that only when he was being taken from Moscow to St Petersburg did he believe he was ‘going somewhere’

In his first comments since recently being released from a Russian prison, a retired Michigan teacher said he only believed he would be freed when he got new clothes.

Stephen Hubbard, 74, remarked on Friday that he had heard many times previously that he would be released – but never really trusted what he was told, adopting a philosophy of “seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words”.

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© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

Stephen Hubbard said that only when he was being taken from Moscow to St Petersburg did he believe he was ‘going somewhere’

In his first comments since recently being released from a Russian prison, a retired Michigan teacher said he only believed he would be freed when he got new clothes.

Stephen Hubbard, 74, remarked on Friday that he had heard many times previously that he would be released – but never really trusted what he was told, adopting a philosophy of “seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

Endorsement not always full-throated but party backing marks major turn after bitter split over nomination

Facing a barrage of extreme attacks from Donald Trump and his allies, the Democratic establishment is finally rallying around progressive Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate in the closely watched US Senate election in Michigan. But the endorsement is not always full-throated, and often even omits his name.

At a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, the US president launched the latest in a wave of Islamophobic rants against El-Sayed, erroneously branding him a “jihadist” and “Muslim Brotherhood member” while invoking 9/11.

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© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor's races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.

Endorsement not always full-throated but party backing marks major turn after bitter split over nomination

Facing a barrage of extreme attacks from Donald Trump and his allies, the Democratic establishment is finally rallying around progressive Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate in the closely watched US Senate election in Michigan. But the endorsement is not always full-throated, and often even omits his name.

At a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, the US president launched the latest in a wave of Islamophobic rants against El-Sayed, erroneously branding him a “jihadist” and “Muslim Brotherhood member” while invoking 9/11.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

Young men swung to Donald Trump in 2024. Polling shows they are now moving away — but to what? Sabrina Tavernise, a reporter for The New York Times, went to Michigan to find out.

© Luke Piotrowski/The New York Times

The fate of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive candidate in the race, will serve as a litmus test for the left’s potency heading into the next presidential contest.

© Nick Hagen for The New York Times

Michigan US Senate candidate signaled support for Egypt’s pro-democracy movement in 2012, not Islamist group

The Republican campaign to defeat Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race by casting him as an Islamic extremist is based on a false claim first made by the conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer eight years ago, a Guardian review of the evidence reveals.

Loomer, an influential outside adviser to Donald Trump who calls herself “a proud Islamophobe”, has claimed since El-Sayed entered politics in 2018 that an open letter he signed in support of democracy in Egypt in 2012 was a public endorsement of the Muslim Brotherhood. The text of the letter, however, does not even mention the Muslim Brotherhood, and is not, as Loomer maintains, “a pledge” of support for the Egyptian Islamist group.

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© Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Representative Haley Stevens has been less than enthusiastic about Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, injecting late intraparty tensions into a race that could decide Senate control.

© Nic Antaya for The New York Times

Investors in big cities are quietly consuming small businesses all over the country.

US health secretary falsely claims at Mike Rogers rally that Arabs have never won major prizes in science or literature

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, faced backlash on Wednesday for a “wildly racist tirade” during a campaign stop in Michigan in which he falsely asserted that Arabs never won leading awards in science or literature.

Kennedy was speaking at the Monday night event in Grand Rapids in support of Mike Rogers, the Republican US Senate candidate trailing his Democratic midterms opponent Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim, in polling.

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© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

More than elsewhere in the country, U.S. policy toward Israel is at the forefront of the race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed.

© Rosem Morton for The New York Times

It's crunch time for candidates across the country with Election Day just over a week away. On Monday, President Trump campaigned in ruby-red Mississippi, a state he won by almost 23 points two years ago. Over the weekend, the battleground state of Michigan saw a political heavyweight bout between Trump and former President Obama. Liz Landers reports.

The president contended that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim, would “invite hordes of jihadis to our shores” as he sought to bolster the G.O.P. candidate in a tight Senate race.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Trump, who imposed a travel ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries during his first term, has increasingly leaned into anti-Muslim rhetoric as Election Day approaches.

Obama remains the Democratic Party's best motivator nearly a decade after leaving the White House. And he's taking his star power on the road in the final days of the midterm elections, which will help determine the balance of power in American politics on Nov. 3.