Christian Musician Kid Rock Compares Abdul El-Sayed to 9/11 Hijackers

Kid Rock compared Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the 9/11 hijackers during an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night, prompting Maher to interrupt with a fact-check — which Kid Rock then pushed back on. The exchange came as Maher and his panel discussed El-Sayed, the Muslim physician and former Detroit health director currently running against Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open Senate seat. Former President Barack Obama campaigned with El-Sayed in Detroit on October 24th as Democrats make a late push ahead of the midterm elections. Maher argued that reactions to Muslim candidates in American politics often veer toward opposite extremes, before bringing up recent attacks on El-Sayed from Donald Trump. When Maher asked Kid Rock whether he actually believed the candidate posed the sort of threat Trump had described, the musician pointed to El-Sayed’s education and assimilation into American society before invoking the September 11th attackers. Kid Rock said El-Sayed appeared well-assimilated, but argued that the 9/11 hijackers had been as well. He went on to say Islamic extremism “scares the hell out of me” and questioned whether El-Say...