Republican Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers pressed his challenger, Muslim leftist Abdulrahman El-Sayed, about his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and whether he is “for America” or “these terrorist groups overseas.”
Rogers raised national security concerns about El-Sayed during the final Michigan U.S. Senate debate on Wednesday night ahead of election day in November. The debate was held at WXYZ-TV’s studio in Detroit.
The candidates were asked about whether Iran poses a threat to the United States and what they believe should be America’s strategy moving forward. El-Sayed contended that while Iran is a threat, it should be handled through diplomacy rather than war.
“My opponent can’t even condemn the IRGC, which is the terrorist enforcement arm of Iran, and doesn’t believe Iran is any more dangerous than Israel. This is an absolute non-starter if you’re going to send somebody back to the United States Senate,” Rogers hit back. “They had the [nuclear] capability. I left Congress a bit in 2014. At that time, [Iran] had all three components of a nuclear program. The big debate was, how do you put those things together, and how long would it take them to do that? Obviously, something triggered that where [we] needed to stop them from developing and putting those three pieces together to get a nuclear weapon. I absolutely believe you want to pay $8 a gallon of gas, let Iran get a nuclear weapon — you lose control of that whole region.”
“They have also created Hamas, financed it, trained it. Same with Hezbollah. Same with the Houthis. Hamas is the one that went across the border [into Israel] on October 7th. That operation was funded by Iran. They are still a threat to the United States of America,” Rogers continued.
El-Sayed went on to accuse Rogers of “cheerleading the war” and criticized him for garnering the support of the super PAC controlled by the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“So, being bought off by the Muslim Brotherhood, having donors to his campaign from Hamas that support Hezbollah, is not a problem?” Rogers fired back. “If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know: are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas? You can grin, and you can smile, and you can talk real pretty, but I’m going to tell you what, that is a risk to our national security.”
Rogers appeared to be referencing a report from the Washington Free Beacon showing that El-Sayed has pulled in thousands of dollars from donors linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a radical Islamist and terrorist movement. At no point in the debate did El-Sayed take the opportunity to disavow the donors or debunk the claims.
Various reports alleged that El-Sayed and his family have had ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). El-Sayed has denied ties and disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood, although his half-sister claims his family has “long been” in the organization.
There have also been reports indicating El-Sayed signed a letter of support for the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012. El-Sayed’s campaign confirmed in August that he still complies with Sharia law in his personal life.
Republicans are sounding the alarm about El-Sayed’s reported ambition to snag a seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if he is elected after one of the candidate’s former staffers said he is eyeing the position — despite having no expertise to offer.
“It is extremely difficult to comprehend how dangerous this can be if he is elected,” wrote Jordan Domingue, who worked as his security chief during his 2018 campaign for Michigan governor. “It’s especially troubling knowing that despite no foreign policy experience, he REALLY wants a seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
