WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardiri praised Abdulrahman El-Sayed’s Senate victory as a model for advancing Muslim causes through the political system.
  • El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers with about 52.5% of the vote and became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
  • Federal records show al-Dardiri donated $500 to El-Sayed’s campaign, while other donors were described as having Muslim Brotherhood ties.
  • El-Sayed denied any Brotherhood connection, and Bridge Michigan found no evidence supporting claims that he had ties to the organization.

Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardiri, a former spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party in Egypt, praised Abdulrahman El-Sayed’s election to the U.S. Senate as a model for Muslims seeking to advance their cause through established political channels, according to a post.

Eitan Fischberger, a commentator who supports Israel, posted that al-Dardiri portrayed the Michigan Democrat’s victory as a win for the “Islamic world.” Fischberger said the former Muslim Brotherhood figure presented the result as a template that other Muslims could follow.

Fischberger quoted al-Dardiri directly while describing the former official’s reaction to the Michigan result. According to the quoted remarks, El-Sayed’s rise showed that Muslims could work “from within the political system” for the “Islamic world.”

El-Sayed, 42, defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan on Tuesday. With nearly all ballots counted, El-Sayed received about 52.5% of the vote, while Rogers took 45.6%.

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The victory made El-Sayed the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. He will succeed retiring Democrat Sen. Gary Peters, giving Michigan a new senator after a race that attracted attention well beyond the state.

The reaction from al-Dardiri was not the only celebration connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Ikhwan Online, a publication tied to the group, had previously celebrated El-Sayed’s August primary victory over Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan.

The publication framed that primary result as a defeat for what it called the “Zionist occupation.” It also praised El-Sayed’s call for ending unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel.

Federal campaign records identify al-Dardiri as Abdul Mawgoud Dardery. Before Egypt’s 2013 military coup, he served as the foreign affairs spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, and he now works as a professor in Minnesota.

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Those records also show that al-Dardiri donated $500 to El-Sayed’s campaign in June. His contribution placed him among several campaign donors described as having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed received more than $25,000 from at least six men who signed a 2012 letter supporting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The report described those men as donors with Muslim Brotherhood ties.

The Washington Free Beacon also reported that El-Sayed signed the same letter while he was a medical student. That reported connection became part of the political dispute surrounding his candidacy and the outside support his campaign received.

El-Sayed has denied having any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. His denial came as Rogers argued during the Senate race that his Democratic opponent “pledged his support to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

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President Donald Trump amplified the accusation during the campaign by calling El-Sayed a “jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member.” The charge placed the issue directly into the national political conversation surrounding the Michigan contest.

Bridge Michigan, however, found no evidence that El-Sayed had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or had pledged support to the organization. El-Sayed also reported that he did not sign the 2012 letter supporting Morsi.

El-Sayed issued an unequivocal denial during an interview with Fox News. “I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood; I never will be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” El-Sayed told the network.

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