4 minPolitics
El-Sayed Faces Scrutiny Over Family Muslim Brotherhood Ties After NBC Denial
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed denied family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in a Sunday NBC interview, but resurfaced social media posts from his half-sister describe their mother's activism in the group during the 1970s.
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is confronting renewed questions about his family's past after he flatly denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood during a Sunday appearance on NBC's «Meet the Press.» The exchange came as moderator Kristen Welker pressed him to address long-circulating allegations that his relatives had links to the Islamist organization.
Welker asked El-Sayed whether he could «set the record straight» on the claims. «No,» he replied. When she followed up — «No, you don't have any ties, and your family doesn't?» — El-Sayed again said «No,» before suggesting that his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, was promoting Islamophobic attacks against him and his family.
But according to his half-sister Eman Abdelhadi, their mother was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a 2012 post on X, Abdelhadi wrote: «Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect.» The post was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
Their mother, Fatten Elkomy, attended Egypt's Alexandria University, which a Brookings Institution report describes as having strong Muslim Brotherhood activity during the 1970s. In another 2012 post, Abdelhadi, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote: «My family has long been MB, but I've always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively.» A third post from 2013 read: «Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in #Egypt. Lie low, stay safe.»
The resurfacing of those posts directly contradicts El-Sayed's blanket denial on national television and threatens to keep the controversy alive in a competitive Senate race. An El-Sayed campaign spokesperson issued a statement to Fox News saying: «Abdul is a dad and a doctor. He has spent his entire career working to keep Michiganders healthy and safe. Independent fact checkers have repeatedly debunked Mike's lies, but their campaign continues to use bad faith attacks on Abdul's faith and family. Mike wants to distract from Trump's agenda that is terrorizing Michigan families at the pump and at the grocery store.»
The campaign has also said the Muslim Brotherhood accusations have been «debunked as racist and untrue.» NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The episode adds to a series of faith-related flashpoints in the Michigan contest. El-Sayed has previously hit back at questions about Israel, suggesting that his name and religion are behind press scrutiny. He was also asked in a separate interview whether he believes America is «ready for a Muslim president» ahead of the Senate race. Another unearthed report revealed that El-Sayed had protested against «ex-terrorists» who converted to Christianity.
Rogers, a former congressman, has sought to frame the race around national security and cultural issues, while El-Sayed has tried to keep the focus on economic concerns such as gas and grocery prices. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is a transnational Islamist movement that has been banned or designated as a terrorist organization by several governments, including Egypt and some Gulf states. Its presence in American political discourse remains highly charged, and allegations of affiliation are often used to question a candidate's loyalties.
With the general election approaching, the dispute over El-Sayed's family history is likely to persist. His campaign has not directly addressed the specific posts by Abdelhadi, instead characterizing the broader line of attack as racist and untrue. The candidate's televised denial now stands against his half-sister's public recollections, leaving voters to weigh competing accounts as the race enters its final stretch.
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