The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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El-Sayed quickly says ‘No’ to family Brotherhood ties, changes subject as his half-sister tells a different story

by

BS BULLETIN

  • Abdul El-Sayed denied that he or his family have Muslim Brotherhood ties on NBC Sunday.
  • Reports cite his half-sister’s old posts describing family connections; a new report specifically names their mother’s past activism.
  • Republicans also highlight favorable Brotherhood-linked coverage. Praise from an outlet alone does not prove campaign coordination.

 

Abdul El-Sayed delivered a neat, uncomplicated answer when asked whether he or his family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“No.”

Now comes the inconvenient part: reports quoting his half-sister’s own descriptions of her family’s connections. A one-word denial is easy to deliver on television. Reconciling it with those posts requires a little more work.

During El-Sayed’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee portrayed Republican opponent Mike Rogers’ accusations as an attempt to exploit his religion.

“You know Kristen, the only reason he said those things is because he really wanted to repeat the word Muslim,” El-Sayed told moderator Kristen Welker.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Sunday that Eman Abdelhadi, El-Sayed’s half-sister and a University of Chicago academic, discussed family connections to the Brotherhood in posts from 2012 and 2013.

 

Legal Insurrection reproduced the fuller wording of one reported 2012 post: “My family has long been MB, but I’ve always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively.”

That second clause matters: she was criticizing the group’s political conduct. But the first clause is precisely why El-Sayed’s blanket denial deserves a follow-up.

The Free Beacon also quoted a July 2013 post: “I have had family jailed for being a part of it.” Who was she referring to? Which relatives? What did El-Sayed mean by denying family ties?

A newer report Monday from Jewish Onliner sharpened the issue. It cited a June 24, 2012 post attributed to Abdelhadi stating: “Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect”

El-Sayed and Abdelhadi share a mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, according to the reporting. Jewish Onliner noted that the post does not specify the nature of the activism, formal membership, or its duration.

It is a reported account of decades-old activity—not evidence that El-Sayed currently belongs to the Brotherhood. Nevertheless, it is substantially more specific than a vague accusation about distant relatives.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee highlighted favorable coverage of El-Sayed’s primary victory on Ikhwan Online, which identifies itself as the Brotherhood’s official website. An August report carried by the NRSC rendered its headline through Google translation as “Abdul Rahman al-Sayyid conquers the Zionists and runs for the Senate.”

That is hardly a flattering campaign clipping to put on the refrigerator.

But favorable coverage is not proof of membership, coordination or a formal endorsement. The sharper question concerns the family statements and the breadth of El-Sayed’s denial.

The organization’s political identity matters, too. In January, Treasury designated the Egyptian and Jordanian Brotherhood branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, citing material support for Hamas. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

Those actions do not retroactively establish wrongdoing by someone described as politically active in the early 1970s. They do explain why questions involving this movement warrant serious answers.

Michigan voters deserve something more useful than competing labels. Explain the posts. Identify what is inaccurate, if anything. Clarify the denial.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

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