President Donald Trump rallied for Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton as Michigan Republican Mike Rogers renewed Muslim Brotherhood claims against Abdul El-Sayed in a race the Associated Press said could shape Senate control. CBS News reported both developments in a video.
The Associated Press said it found no evidence that El-Sayed was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Michigan Public separately reported that Rogers had not provided evidence for allegations about El-Sayed and his family. The findings address distinct questions: whether El-Sayed was affiliated with the group and whether Rogers supported his claims about El-Sayed and his family.
El-Sayed has denied ties to the group. At a town hall in Caro on Oct. 17, he agreed to disavow it. Rogers later disputed El-Sayed’s answer in an Oct. 18 CNN interview, according to the transcript. EconoTimes previously covered the candidates’ dispute over the exchange.
Trump had also attacked El-Sayed at an Oct. 25 rally in Port Huron, accusing him of extremist ties and suggesting a metal detector if he entered the Senate. An earlier EconoTimes report said Trump offered no evidence for those allegations. Bishara Bahbah, a founder of a group that helped Trump court Arab American voters, called Trump’s remarks racist in an interview with the Associated Press.
CNN commentators said attention to the Muslim Brotherhood dispute could benefit Rogers by shifting debate away from the economy. Michigan Public quoted former congressman Mike Bishop as saying Republicans needed to fire up their base. CNN commentators also compared the allegations with the false 2008 claim that Barack Obama attended a madrassa and recalled John McCain rejecting a similar accusation.
The Michigan Department of State lists Rogers and El-Sayed as candidates for a six-year U.S. Senate term on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
