You really have to love when a half-sister throws your whole lie into a bucket of fish for the pirates to take easy shots at. And that’s me, the pirate! And you’re gonna love this one because these fish are jumping and the lies are ready to be scaled and gutted.
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sat down on Meet the Press Sunday and denied, repeatedly, that he or any of his relatives have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. It was a confident performance. The only problem is his own half-sister already told a different story years ago.
Eman Abdelhadi, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, wrote about it openly on social media back in 2012 and 2013. “My family has long been MB,” she wrote on June 24, 2012, just days after Egypt elected Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi as president. Then on July 3, 2013, she wrote, “I have had family jailed for being a part of it,” adding, “Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in Egypt. Lie low, stay safe.” Not exactly subtle.
The Washington Free Beacon first surfaced those posts, and El-Sayed Muslim Brotherhood ties adds another layer: El-Sayed’s familial connections to the Brotherhood reportedly run through his mother, who at one point worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, an outfit that was sanctioned for funding al-Qaeda. His campaign also confirmed back in August that El-Sayed still personally complies with Sharia law. So there’s a lot going on here.
It gets worse for El-Sayed on the debate front too. During his Thursday debate against Republican opponent Mike Rogers, El-Sayed reportedly failed to deny receiving money from terrorist groups when the question came up. That’s a pretty big thing to not deny.
Rogers didn’t let Sunday’s Meet the Press performance slide. He posted on social media, “This morning, Abdul El-Sayed was asked about his family’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. And he denied it, an outright lie. The truth is, Abdul and his family have surrounded themselves with some of the most heinous organizations and anti-American actors in history. He is too extreme to get anywhere near the U.S. Senate.”
For context on why this matters beyond Michigan, President Trump signed an executive order designating certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations. The order specifically noted that Brotherhood chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt “engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns” that harm U.S. citizens and interests. A senior Egyptian Brotherhood leader publicly called for violent attacks against U.S. partners on October 7, 2023. This is not a fringe concern.
Investigative journalist Peter Schweizer warned in September that the Brotherhood is actively using what he called “civilizational jihad” to gain influence in the West. “They’ve been doing it in Europe, and they’ve been doing it in the United States. The Muslim Brotherhood is alive and active in America today electing politicians,” he said.
Michigan voters will get the final say when they head to the polls, and Rogers will keep pressing the issue between now and then. El-Sayed can keep denying things, but it’s a little harder when the rebuttal is sitting right there in your own family’s Twitter history.
At this point, if you vote for a liar like this, then you get what you deserve.
