Michigan Democrat El-Sayed questioned over family Muslim Brotherhood ties

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 16:43 · Archive

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has been questioned about his family's connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has faced scrutiny over his family's connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and designated terrorist organisations. According to the New York Post, his biological mother, Fatten Elkomy, previously worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, a designated terrorist organisation, and was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the 1970s. El-Sayed's half-sister shared details of their mother's activism on social media.

When questioned by NBC Nightly News this week, El-Sayed said: 'I wasn't raised by my mother.' He separated from his biological mother at age three. However, the New York Post reports that he remains close to his birth mother and speaks affectionately of her in private, despite curating a family narrative for his campaign that focuses on his white stepmother.

A heated exchange at a campaign town hall intensified the debate. Tommy Teepell, a former staffer for Senator Josh Hawley, asked whether El-Sayed would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed immediately responded 'Sure. Yeah, absolutely' and then launched into a lengthy response, drawing a parallel to President Kennedy's candidacy and arguing he was running to serve as someone who happened to be Muslim, not as a Muslim senator. CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford sided with Teepell in a post on X, suggesting El-Sayed's affirmation was too brief.

How it is being reported

• The truth behind Abdul El-Sayed's family's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood as clash goes viral in razor-thin Senate raceA heated exchange between Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and a man at a campaign town hall has reignited a debate over his alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.Daily Mail · 19 Oct, 16:28
• Abdul El-Sayed remains close to terror-linked mother despite best efforts to hide her from campaignThe Michigan Democratic Senate candidate has carefully curated a family narrative that erases his terror group-linked birth mother for his white stepmom on the campaign trail -- even though he remains connected to his "ummi."New York Post · 17 Oct, 22:52

In this story: Abdul El-Sayed · Fatten Elkomy · Muslim Brotherhood · Michigan · Islamic American Relief Agency

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