Abdul El-Sayed Fan of Human Rights, Hot Cheese

Abdul El-Sayed says Donald Trump doesn't realize it, but he's actually praising the Michigan senatorial candidate by mocking his name, but the first order of business Tuesday night was chowin' down on some Red Hot Cheese Flavored popcorn!!!

Our TMZ DC guys, Jacob and Charlie, are now in Michigan and caught up with El-Sayed at a Detroit gas station. El-Sayed cracked open a bag of the Red Hots, which Jacob clearly couldn't handle, so the 3 then shared a bottle of Gatorade to bring down the heat.

Then they got serious. Jacob mentioned he spoke to a guy in Kalamazoo who felt if El-Sayed got elected, he wouldn't be as progressive as he sounds now because of his religion. El-Sayed explains why he's progressive BECAUSE of his religion.

Then Charlie gets personal ... asking the candidate if his feelings are hurt when Trump mocks his name. El-Sayed breaks it down and explains how Trump is inadvertently praising him.

And he has words for the new White House Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia, who called El-Sayed a radical. He says Katie's last name is ironic, and her comments are rich.