Abdul El-Sayed Rejects Muslim Brotherhood, Denounces 'Dual Loyalty' Accusations

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed forcefully disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement, during a contentious town hall exchange on Saturday. El-Sayed, who has the potential to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, has consistently faced accusations from Republicans suggesting he sympathizes with interests linked to Islamic terrorism. In the days leading up to the town hall, prominent Republicans, including his challenger Mike Rogers and President Donald Trump, had raised questions about potential connections to the organization.

During a town hall in Caro, Michigan, an attendee repeatedly pressed El-Sayed to reject the Muslim Brotherhood. "Abdul, will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?" the man shouted. After disavowing the movement, El-Sayed strongly criticized the attendee for implying he held "dual loyalty." "You assume … that because I am Muslim, that somehow I would have some allegiance to something that is not our Constitution," El-Sayed stated, emphasizing, "For me, that Constitution is the guiding light." The audience member departed as the crowd applauded El-Sayed.

The nominee has been subjected to scrutiny regarding alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. These recent attacks followed the resurfacing of old tweets from El-Sayed's half-sister, including one from 2012 where she mentioned an "amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college." Earlier this week, El-Sayed denied any ties between himself, his family, and the Muslim Brotherhood, calling such assumptions "insane." He has stated he has no knowledge of his mother's activities in Egypt during the 1970s, noting he was raised by his father and stepmother after his parents' divorce when he was three years old.

"They want to talk about me or point to my mom or my sister," El-Sayed remarked on Thursday. "I’m running for office. Judge me by my actions and my work." The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt, is an Islamist movement with international branches that once held considerable political influence. While the organization officially renounces violence, some of its offshoots have been linked to past attacks. In November, President Trump signed an executive order initiating a process to potentially designate certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

El-Sayed has suggested that inquiries into supposed connections to the Muslim Brotherhood are motivated by prejudice. "To insinuate that somehow, because of my Muslim faith, as somebody who might be the first senator who has that faith, that I would have anything but allegiance to the Constitution, that should be called into question," El-Sayed said on MSNOW on Sunday. CNN's Gloria Pazmino contributed to this report.