Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing fresh criticism over how he handled a question about his family’s reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood — this time from hosts of the liberal podcast “Pod Save America,” who are themselves former staffers for President Barack Obama.
The scrutiny traces back to a Washington Free Beacon report on social media posts in which El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, described her family’s history with the Muslim Brotherhood, including that of her and El-Sayed’s mother.
At an October 17 town hall, an audience member asked El-Sayed whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. He did disavow the group, but then turned the question back on the attendee: “You’re asking the question because implicitly, you assume that I’ll have dual loyalties, right? You assume that I wouldn’t disavow, or that I’ll have some higher order allegiance than to the Constitution, correct? Tommy, is that what you imply?”
On a recent episode of “Pod Save America,” host Jon Favreau said he understood why El-Sayed might be frustrated by the question but argued the candidate needed to think beyond the person asking it.
“You’ve got to give the answer as if someone who might have a question about a Muslim Brotherhood tie is not necessarily like totally Islamophobic… and you don’t want to condescend to that person or be like, ‘No, you’re an a–hole for asking.'”
Favreau added that he thought El-Sayed’s response needed “like 20% less condescension,” while co-host Tommy Vietor agreed a “slightly more empathetic version” was possible. Co-host Jon Lovett put it more bluntly: “Stop fighting with that guy and speak to the people that are not.”
Favreau also argued Republicans were using the Muslim Brotherhood issue strategically, suggesting operatives calculated that most voters know little about the organization beyond that it “sounds pretty scary.” He compared the pressure on El-Sayed to what Obama faced over questions about his background, and what New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has faced, calling the double standard “unfair” but something candidates still have to navigate to win.
“It’s not fair that what he has to do in response is to eat s— and just give a nice answer with a smile,” Favreau said.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, who has tracked the Michigan Senate race, said the criticism from sympathetic commentators points to a real problem for El-Sayed’s campaign.
“The ‘Pod Save America’ guys are partisan hacks who bend over backward to excuse El-Sayed’s radicalism and dismiss legitimate scrutiny as bigotry. But even they recognize that his nastiness and condescension are deeply off-putting. And if even his most sympathetic defenders can see it, imagine how he comes across to ordinary Michigan voters.”
Arm argued this is a significant reason El-Sayed is polling behind where Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee stands in her own race.
