In a televised exchange that ran hot within minutes, Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers and NBC's Kristen Welker turned a Sunday interview into a contest over trust and accountability. At its center stands Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic opponent whose denials of any Muslim Brotherhood connection have been challenged by older letters and family posts now resurfacing in a Michigan race. The episode belongs to a familiar political pattern, in which a candidate's past associations become a test of how much an answer must be pressed before it is accepted. Whether the denial holds will depend les
Rogers accuses Welker of giving El-Sayed a pass on Muslim Brotherhood ties
"I've never called him a terrorist," Rogers said.
Mark
Why is a spat between a candidate and a moderator getting attention?
Mimi
Because Rogers turned the interview itself into the story. He said Welker was giving El-Sayed a pass, and she answered by confronting him with his own 2012 comments about engaging moderate Brotherhood members.
Luke
Worth noting that's Rogers' characterization of her. She was pointing to El-Sayed's denial, which he gave on her program on Oct. 11.
Mark
What is the evidence behind the Brotherhood allegation?
Mimi
A November 2012 letter backing Morsi that the Washington Free Beacon says El-Sayed signed, and old posts from his half-sister Eman Abdelhadi describing family ties to the group.
Luke
Those are different things. The letter shows support for a president the Brotherhood backed; it isn't membership. The half-sister's posts describe her family, and El-Sayed says his father and stepmother raised him. Nothing here establishes that he personally has ties.
Mark
And the terrorist label?
Mimi
Trump used it. Welker said there's no evidence for it, and Rogers said he himself never called El-Sayed a terrorist.
Luke
His campaign spokesperson, though, did call the Brotherhood a terrorist organization and asked why El-Sayed won't disavow it. Meanwhile El-Sayed hasn't answered Fox's request for comment, so his side here comes from earlier statements.
Der Puls
- Rogers and Welker talked over each other on Meet the Press, with Rogers accusing her of giving El-Sayed a pass on Muslim Brotherhood ties.
- A 2012 letter backing Egypt's Morsi and posts by El-Sayed's half-sister have revived questions that El-Sayed says are being used against his faith.
- Welker countered by putting Rogers' own 2012 remarks about engaging moderate Brotherhood members on screen, and Rogers called her framing a twist.
- Rogers' campaign is pressing national outlets to demand a clear, unequivocal disavowal from El-Sayed before the Michigan Senate race goes further.
- El-Sayed has not responded to Fox News Digital, leaving his denials standing as the open question heading into the campaign.
In a televised exchange that ran hot within minutes, Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers and NBC's Kristen Welker turned a Sunday interview into a contest over trust and accountability. At its center stands Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic opponent whose denials of any Muslim Brotherhood connection have been challenged by older letters and family posts now resurfacing in a Michigan race. The episode belongs to a familiar political pattern, in which a candidate's past associations become a test of how much an answer must be pressed before it is accepted. Whether the denial holds will depend less on the shouting than on whether the record is pursued with the same patience on every side.
On Sunday, Michigan Republican Mike Rogers sat down with NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, and the conversation quickly became a shouting match. The target was Abdul El-Sayed, his Democratic opponent, and whether El-Sayed had truly cut ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Welker said El-Sayed had already disavowed the group and defended the earlier interview in which he denied any connection. Rogers answered that El-Sayed had never disavowed anything, only brushed the question aside, and he asked why the candidate should be let off the hook.
Welker then turned to Rogers, playing a 2012 clip in which he said the U.S. should talk with moderate Brotherhood members. Rogers said she was twisting his words, explaining that as House Intelligence chairman he had wanted Egypt and Israel to keep intelligence cooperation intact to prevent regional violence. He accused her of shielding El-Sayed.
Afterward, Rogers' campaign doubled down, with spokesperson Abby Ronson describing El-Sayed as an Oxford-trained debater who deflects and gets angry when asked, and urging national media to press him for a plain answer. The claims draw on a 2012 letter El-Sayed signed backing Egypt's Morsi, and on older posts by his half-sister describing family ties to the group. El-Sayed, who has accused Rogers of exploiting his faith, did not respond to Fox News Digital. What comes next is whether his denials face the same scrutiny as the attacks on him.
On Sunday, Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers sat across from NBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" and, within minutes, the two were talking over each other. The subject was his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The flashpoint came when Welker said El-Sayed had already disavowed any ties to the group, and defended her earlier interview with him in which he denied them. Rogers pushed back hard. He said El-Sayed had not disavowed anything, that he had dismissed the question, and that he did not understand why Welker was giving the candidate a pass on something he should be held accountable for.
Welker then turned the scrutiny on Rogers himself. She put a 2012 quote on screen in which he said the United States would have to reach out to and talk to moderate members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and she asked whether he acknowledged once being willing to engage with them. Rogers said she was twisting his words. He explained that, as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee at the time, his concern was keeping intelligence cooperation between Egypt and Israel intact so as to prevent more regional violence. He accused her of bending the matter to defend her position for letting El-Sayed lie to her.
The exchange sharpened further when Welker asked about President Donald Trump's description of El-Sayed as a violent terrorist. She said there was no evidence for that claim, and noted again that El-Sayed has denied any affiliation with the Brotherhood and publicly disavowed it. Rogers rejected the idea that the characterization was his: he said he has never called El-Sayed a terrorist.
Afterward, Rogers' campaign stood by the line of attack. In a statement to Fox News Digital, spokesperson Abby Ronson called El-Sayed an Oxford-trained debater who, whenever asked about supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, deflects, gets angry and dismisses the question. She said Michiganders deserve an answer to what should be an easy one, and asked why his campaign would not issue an unequivocal statement disavowing a terrorist organization. She urged national media to ask him instead of making excuses for him.
The allegations rest on connections that have been reported before. The Washington Free Beacon reported that El-Sayed was one of 46 Egyptian American community figures who signed a November 2012 letter backing decisions by Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi, who was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, and urging him to purge Egypt's police and media. The letter was published as Morsi faced criticism for expanding his presidential powers.
Separately, older social media posts by El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, have recently resurfaced. In a 2012 post she wrote that her family has long been MB, though she had always felt the organization navigated the political sphere poorly or destructively. In another post she described talking with her mother about taking part in Muslim Brotherhood activism while attending college in Egypt in the 1970s.
El-Sayed has said he was raised by his father and stepmother, and he has accused Rogers of exploiting his Muslim faith for political gain. Fox News Digital contacted him for comment and had not received a response. On his own Oct. 11 "Meet the Press" appearance, when Welker asked whether he or his family had any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, his answer was a single word: "No."
What to watch is whether the campaigns, or national outlets, press El-Sayed further on those denials as the Michigan Senate race moves forward.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
I don't know why you give this guy a pass.— Mike Rogers, to Kristen Welker
Every time he's asked about his support of the Muslim Brotherhood, he deflects, gets angry and dismisses the question.— Abby Ronson, Rogers campaign spokesperson
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