Republicans Accuse Abdul El-Sayed of Muslim Brotherhood Ties

Republican candidate Mike Rogers and President Donald Trump have accused Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood during a contentious open-seat race in Michigan. Trump escalated the rhetoric by calling El-Sayed a "jihadist" and mocking his middle name, Muhammad, while Rogers portrayed him as an extremist and a threat to Jewish voters.

During an October 17 town hall in Caro, Michigan, El-Sayed verbally disavowed the organization after being questioned by attendee Tommy Teepell. El-Sayed compared the scrutiny to the religious prejudice faced by John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, arguing that the allegations implicitly assume he holds "dual loyalties" because of his Muslim faith. However, the Rogers campaign dismissed the response as "word salad," arguing that dismissing the question is not the same as a formal disavowal.

The allegations stem from 2012 social media posts by El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, regarding their mother's activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1970s. Further reports allege his mother worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, a Treasury-sanctioned group, and that his father-in-law donated $200,000 to his campaign. El-Sayed denied these ties, noting he was separated from his mother at a young age.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended El-Sayed, calling the claims "racist" and transferring $1 million to his campaign. Meanwhile, Zuhdi Jasser criticized El-Sayed for failing to sufficiently distance himself from Islamist ideologies. The race, scheduled for November 3, remains sharply divided along religious and ethnic lines.