After his victory in the Michigan primary on Wednesday, Abdul El-Sayed will be the Democratic nominee for a Senate seat in November. His goal now: to lead the left's fight in Washington against Donald Trump.

"As Muhammad Ali said: we made the world tremble," Abdul El-Sayed rejoiced to the press on Wednesday after the announcement of his victory over Haley Stevens, a centrist candidate supported by the bigwigs of the Democratic Party.

In November, this 41-year-old epidemiologist will have a tough fight to defeat Republican Mike Rogers, who is backed by Donald Trump. While both senators from Michigan are currently Democrats, the Republican billionaire won this state of over 10 million inhabitants in the northern part of the country in the 2024 presidential election.

To win, Abdul El-Sayed is counting on a mobilization of the progressive base, which is outraged by the start of Donald Trump's second term.

This practicing Muslim, with prominent muscles and a neatly trimmed beard, made a point of thanking his supporters on Wednesday, starting with Bernie Sanders, a major figure on the American left.

"He has been here since day one," praised Abdul El-Sayed, whose victory is part of a series of recent achievements for the progressive movement in the United States, notably with the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York.

- "Expel money from politics" -

Born in Detroit to an Egyptian immigrant father and a mother native to Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed followed a prestigious academic path: a graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia in New York, he also studied at Oxford thanks to the highly regarded Rhodes Scholarship.

In 2018, he failed to win the Democratic nomination for governor.

"My family immigrated to this country from a place where there is no democracy. You can't just raise your hand and show up" for an election, he said Wednesday.

Among the priorities of his platform, Abdul El-Sayed lists "expelling money from politics" first. He rejects financial contributions from large corporations and interest groups and opposes the influence of AIPAC, an organization that works to elect pro-Israel Democratic and Republican candidates. His Democratic rival in the primary notably benefited from over $30 million in campaign donations from AIPAC.

Abdul El-Sayed also lists wanting to "put money back in the pockets" of Americans, by fighting the cost of living - a key theme of the midterm election campaign so far.

- "Bitter" campaign -

Former director of public health services for Wayne County - which includes the major city of Detroit - he also campaigns for universal health coverage in the United States, a long-standing and contentious issue.

Faced with this decidedly left-wing program, the Republicans do not hesitate to label him a dangerous extremist, also emphasizing his Arab and Muslim identity.

Upon the announcement of the results on Wednesday, Donald Trump mocked the victory of the man he calls a "communist", believing it to be "great news for Republicans".

The Senate Republican caucus went so far as to claim on X: "an alliance of communists and Islamists is taking control of the Democratic Party."

"He is actually a jihadist sympathizer (...) They are infiltrating us from within," Republican Senator Katie Britt also said.

Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday denounced this "bitter" campaign launched by his rival "Mike Rogers, Donald Trump and their MAGA allies in the Republican Party".

He also found it amusing that his opponents were using his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, as a scarecrow: "Mike, listen, if you can't say my name (...), I'd be happy to teach you a lesson."