Trump accuses Michigan Senate candidate El-Sayed of Muslim Brotherhood ties

President Donald Trump said at the White House on Thursday that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an accusation the Democrat has rejected. Mr Trump also repeatedly called the candidate by a different first name while discussing the race, saying: “His name is Abdul, but I think I call him Mohammed Abdul El-Sayed, and he's a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100 per cent.”

The claim lands less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Michigan, home to roughly 300,000 Arab Americans, is among the most closely watched Senate contests, and Mr Trump has carried the state twice. Polls show Mr El-Sayed narrowly leading his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, an ally of the president.

Mr El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants and an epidemiologist and former health official, denied any Brotherhood links in an NBC interview that aired on Thursday. He said his parents divorced when he was a child and that he was raised by his American stepmother. “I have no ties. We have no ties,” he said, adding that he never had such conversations with his mother. “You're using hearsay evidence from a tweet. It's just not serious.”

US media reports this week cited social media posts by Mr El-Sayed's half-sister that allegedly describe his mother as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. The candidate has dismissed the accusations, according to The National. Mr Trump has also used the terms “radical” and “jihadist lunatic” about him during the campaign.

At a heated debate last week, Mr Rogers called Mr El-Sayed a “con man” and accused him of ties to armed groups in the Middle East. “He can't condemn Hamas. He can't condemn the Muslim Brotherhood. He says his home is Egypt,” Mr Rogers said. He later suggested that concerns about surveillance could be personal for his opponent because he or a family member might be suspected of terrorism, prompting Mr El-Sayed to reply: “Go ahead and say it. You've been tiptoeing around it the whole time.”

If Mr El-Sayed wins, he would become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Mr El-Sayed has also faced questions about his credentials during the race.