Democratic Party U.S. Senate nominee for Michigan Abdul El-Sayed’s sister, Eman Abdelhadi, claimed that the family had long been affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in a series of unearthed social media posts. The revelation comes just a day after El-Sayed denied having any family affiliation with the extremist group while appearing on NBC’s Meet The Press.
During the Meet The Press interview, host Kristen Welker asked him to clarify whether he or his family had any connections to the group. El-Sayed replied “No,” and repeated the denial when pressed further.
A report from the Washington Free Beacon, however, examined social media posts from 2012 and 2013 from Abdelhadi, who works as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. El-Sayed and Abdelhadi share the same mother, Fatten Elkomy, who emigrated from Egypt in the late 1970s.
According to the Free Beacon, Elkomy previously worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, which the U.S. Treasury Department designated in 2004 for providing financial and logistical support to al-Qaeda and Hamas.
In one post from June 24, 2012 — days after Egypt elected Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi as president — Abdelhadi wrote, “My family has long been MB, but I’ve always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively.”
“Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect,” she also wrote on the same day.
In a July 2013 post, Abdelhadi said she was praying for “for all my family that supports the #MB in Egypt. Lie low, stay safe.” Other posts from the period referred to conversations with “#MB family in Egypt” and an aunt’s comments on the group during a visit to the United States.
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Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin contacted the El-Sayed campaign for comment on the posts in light of the Meet the Press denial. Campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner responded by completely side-stepping the question, writing, “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.”
On background, the campaign described claims that El-Sayed and his family are part of the Muslim Brotherhood as “racist” and “untrue.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, which boasts millions of members worldwide, advocates for the implementation of Sharia Law in society. It is designated as a terrorist group in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates due to its historical involvement in violence and opposition to secular governance. Several chapters of the organization — including the Egyptian chapter — are designated as terrorist in the United States.
Writings by Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb have long been cited as a primary influence by figures associated with al-Qaeda and other militant groups.