Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said this week that he will not return campaign contributions from donors affiliated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), dismissing his Republican opponentâs demand as an attempt to inject race and religion into the race.
The exchange came during an interview with FOX 2 Detroit that aired Tuesday, when anchor Roop Raj pressed El-Sayed on recent comments from Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who has called on him to give back money from organizations like CAIR that Rogers says carry a âdubious cloud.â According to reporting cited by The Daily Wire and Fox News, El-Sayed has received more than $115,000 from at least 40 individuals linked to CAIR.
CAIR has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and is similarly labeled by the states of Florida and Texas. The group was also named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terror-financing prosecution in U.S. history, a case that prompted the FBI to sever ties with the organizationâs leadership. Fox News reported that among El-Sayedâs donors were several of CAIRâs top national officials, including national Board Chair Manal Fakhoury, national Board Treasurer Eyas Abdeen, and national Vice Chair Emad Sabbah, as well as CAIR-Michigan board member Jukaku Tayeb, who is El-Sayedâs father-in-law.
âA Culture Warâ
Asked directly whether he would consider returning the money, El-Sayed did not engage with the specifics of Rogersâs claim. Instead, he framed the criticism as an attack on his identity.
âYou know, that civil rights organization exists because people like Mike Rogers want to make this race about the color of my skin or how I pray,â El-Sayed said in response to Rajâs question. âSo Iâm focused on you and your gas prices and the price of your groceries. Heâs focused on trying to turn this into some kind of culture war.â
El-Sayed did not address the Holy Land Foundation case or the documented ties between CAIRâs early leadership and the Islamic Association for Palestine, the Muslim Brotherhood, and support for Hamas. The Daily Wire noted that his answer sidestepped those issues entirely.
Other Controversies Shadow the Campaign
The donation dispute is not the only controversy trailing El-Sayedâs Senate bid. He has faced repeated questions about his association with Hasan Piker, a far-left streamer and campaign surrogate who has praised Hezbollah and Chinese leader Mao Zedong, and who once said that âAmerica deserved 9/11.â El-Sayed has also struggled to explain past social media posts that downplayed victims of Islamic terrorism and appeared to blame the United States for its military responses.
Meanwhile, Federal Election Commission records show an unusual overlap between donors backing El-Sayed and those supporting Dan Bilzerian, the social media personality who mounted a failed primary campaign for a Florida congressional seat that included praise for Adolf Hitler.
Debate Over Debates
The FOX 2 Detroit interview had originally been arranged as a potential debate between El-Sayed and Rogers, who has already agreed to two debates in October. Rogers declined the FOX 2 format, with his campaign citing concerns about moderator bias.
âMichiganders deserve to see their candidates engage in a healthy, fair debate â not one compromised by media bias,â Rogers campaign communications director Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement. The campaign pointed to Rajâs previous praise of El-Sayed, as well as praise Raj has received from Piker, as reasons he could not be trusted to moderate fairly.
El-Sayedâs refusal to return the CAIR-linked donations is likely to keep the issue alive as the Senate race moves toward its fall debates. Rogers has made the contributions a central line of attack, while El-Sayed continues to cast the criticism as a broader assault on Muslim Americans rather than a dispute over specific donors.
Source: www.dailywire.com â https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-refuses-to-return-campaign-donations-from-terror-linked-groups