David Beamer brought his son’s famous words to President Donald Trump’s Michigan rally Sunday, leading supporters in a chant of “Let’s roll” after urging them to reject Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Appearing alongside Trump in Port Huron on October 25, the father of Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer endorsed Republican Mike Rogers and cast the upcoming election as a consequential choice for the country. Trump also welcomed Todd’s mother, Peggy, to the stage.
“Are you guys ready?” Beamer asked as he concluded his remarks. “On three: one, two, three, ‘Let’s roll,’” according to the Daily Wire report.
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The phrase echoed the words Todd Beamer spoke before joining fellow passengers in resisting the hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.
Beamer Urges Michigan Voters To Back Rogers
Beamer praised Rogers as “a Michigan man” with “a life of service” who “values and loves this country,” the Daily Wire reported.
He also appealed to Democrats to cross party lines and support Rogers, while endorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate John James.
His criticism of El-Sayed was considerably sharper.
“We cannot allow this man to invade and occupy our country,” Beamer said, according to the Daily Wire. He called the Democratic nominee “anti-American” and accused him of welcoming support from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Those were Beamer’s allegations. El-Sayed is a Michigan-born American whose campaign biography describes his upbringing in southeast Michigan and his work leading public health agencies in Detroit and Wayne County.
El-Sayed has denied Brotherhood ties; the Washington Post reported that no evidence establishing his affiliation had been produced.
Beamer also targeted the Democratic Socialists of America, portraying its agenda as a threat from within the country. El-Sayed has said he is not a member of the organization, according to the supplied Daily Wire report. MLive separately noted that he has described himself as a capitalist.
Disputed Letter Remains A Campaign Flashpoint
The rally followed renewed scrutiny of a 2012 letter bearing El-Sayed’s name that supported then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that the letter urged Morsi to “purge the media and the police as quickly as possible.” Republicans have cited it in challenging El-Sayed’s judgment and his denials of ties to the organization. Signing the letter, however, does not itself establish Brotherhood membership.
During a Friday interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, El-Sayed objected to questions about the letter and said his loyalty would be to the U.S. Constitution, according to the New York Post’s account, republished by AOL.
He also explicitly denied ever belonging to the Brotherhood.
The Story Behind ‘Let’s Roll’
Todd Beamer was 32 when he boarded Flight 93 for a business trip. During the hijacking, he tried to telephone his wife but instead reached an operator, according to the National Park Service.
He described what was happening aboard the aircraft, relayed messages for his pregnant wife and prayed with the operator. At the end of the call, she heard him say: “Are you guys ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”
The resistance by Flight 93’s passengers and crew prevented the hijackers from reaching their intended target in Washington, according to the National Park Service.
Twenty-five years later, David Beamer used those words to close his appeal to Michigan voters.
Trump thanked the Beamers afterward.
“That’s from the heart,” the president said, according to the Daily Wire. “And your boy is looking down very proud of you both.”
