Donald Trump joked about the name Mohammed while mocking the office of the president of Iran at a rally in Georgia

U.S. President Donald Trump joked about the popularity of the first name Mohammed in the Muslim world while mocking the office of president of Iran on Friday at an election rally held in Dalton, Georgia. The remark was made in a hangar at Dalton Municipal Airport, where Trump took part in campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 legislative elections.

Trump claimed that Iran was “the only country where no one wants to be president,” then pretended to ask several people named Mohammed whether they would like to hold the position. The joke was met with a reserved reaction from rally attendees.

The president of Iran is Masoud Pezeshkian, who has been in office since 2024. Human rights organizations and representatives of Muslim communities have repeatedly criticized Trump for rhetoric they say demonizes or ridicules Muslims, immigrants and ethnic minorities.

During the campaign for the midterm elections, Trump intensified his attacks on American Muslims and Somali Americans. He also reiterated his promise that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, seven months after the military conflict waged by the United States and Israel against Tehran. According to CAIR, Trump’s rhetoric and his policies on immigration and pro-Palestinian protests have contributed to the rise of Islamophobia in the United States.