Bernie Moreno

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As one media pundit pointed out, Sen. Bernie Moreno’s faith-based criteria for public office would violate the Constitution.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) took a pointed jab at Abdul El-Sayed this week, arguing that the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan is unfit to serve because of his Muslim faith.

Speaking at a GOP rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Wednesday, Moreno called out El-Sayed’s religious beliefs while defending El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.

“On Monday, I campaigned with Mike Rogers because he’s in a race with somebody that is an affront to me as an American ― by the way, an affront to me as a naturalized citizen of this country,” he said before a crowd that included President Donald Trump. “This character, Abdul El-Sayed, can be nowhere near D.C.”

“Do you think he understands that concept that our rights come from God Almighty? That Jesus came here for our salvation?” he continued. “He should be nowhere near Washington, D.C., and Mike Rogers is going to kick his ass on Tuesday.”

Moreno: "I campaigned with Mike Rogers because he's in a race with somebody that is an affront to me as an American, as a naturalized citizen. Abdul El-Sayed can be nowhere near DC. Do you think he understands that concept that our rights come from God Almighty? That Jesus came… pic.twitter.com/NeWEJsRHws

A public health expert and father of two, El-Sayed is bidding to be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

Among those to speak out against Moreno’s comments was “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough, who pointed out that the senator’s faith-based criteria for public office would violate the First Amendment ― which guarantees freedom of religion ― and therefore would also exclude Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and atheists, in addition to Muslims.

“It literally would not have been hard for him to just literally open a little booklet with the Constitution, and all he’d have to do is just read the First Amendment,” Scarborough said Thursday. “Just read the first phrase of the First Amendment!”

Moreno’s comments, however, aren’t particularly surprising, as many prominent Republicans have attacked El-Sayed with Islamophobic rhetoric in recent days as next week’s midterm elections loom.

At a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, over the weekend, Trump deemed El-Sayed “a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member” and suggested he’d “have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” evoking the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) shared similar sentiments at a GOP event in Detroit Wednesday, deeming El-Sayed a “jihadist leprechaun” while tying him to the Muslim Brotherhood, a claim El-Sayed has repeatedly denied.

Cruz also suggested that El-Sayed, if elected, could serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee, creating “a very real risk that Americans will die as a result.”

For his part, El-Sayed has dismissed such attacks as “deflections and deceptions based on no evidence.”

“They have nothing to say about solving the problems in your life,” he said Monday, when asked about the GOP. “They’re not talking about you.”