Trump links Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Muslim Brotherhood: 'He's a con man'
President Donald Trump on Thursday linked Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood amid scrutiny over his alleged family ties to the Islamist organization.
"He's a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100%," Trump said during a lunch in the White House Rose Garden. "He's a Muslim Brotherhood guy. How about having him be on the Senate Intelligence Committee? How about that? The guy's 100% Muslim Brotherhood."
El-Sayed has come under scrutiny from Republicans over social media posts made by his half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, alleging their mother was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the 1970s.
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He has denied any family connections to the group. During a recent interview with NBC's Meet the Press, El-Sayed rejected the assertions when asked to set the record straight.
"I have no ties; we have no ties," El-Sayed said.
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He accused political opponents of engaging in anti-Muslim rhetoric rather than addressing his policy positions.
"[Opponent Mike Rogers'] only strategy is to point to me and my name and my faith and to say that we're different, and that you should suspect people simply because they are different than you in how they pray," he said.
However, according to Abdelhadi, their mother was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect," Abdelhadi wrote in a 2012 post on X.
In another 2012 social media post, she wrote: "My family has long been MB, but I've always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively."
During his remarks, Trump said he looked forward to visiting Michigan to "expose this fraud that's running."
"He's a fraud. He's a con man," Trump said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to El-Sayed's campaign for comment.