The Michigan Senate race has taken a sharp turn into the kind of political theater that usually stays confined to the darker corners of social media, according to a scathing op-ed published by The Daily Wire. At the center of the controversy is Democrat Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, a Senate candidate whose past comments and associations are now colliding with an unexpected endorsement from former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — and an accidental admission from a leftist streamer that the outlet claims proves El-Sayed is hiding his true views from voters.
The Piker Stream and the ‘Taqiyya’ Accusation
According to The Daily Wire, the latest flashpoint came when Hasan Piker, a leftist influencer with a massive online following, went live on his stream and discussed El-Sayed’s video statement marking the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Piker reportedly acknowledged that El-Sayed’s statement “noticeably did not center” Muslim victims of the post-9/11 backlash. The streamer then offered an explanation: El-Sayed is a Muslim man running for Senate, and in the current media environment, “you can’t say the f*cking truth.”
The Daily Wire seized on that remark, framing it as an admission that El-Sayed is engaging in taqiyya — a concept in some Islamic traditions that the outlet describes as allowing Muslims to lie to advance political goals. The op-ed argues that Piker, who is described as El-Sayed’s close friend and romantic partner, accidentally revealed that the candidate secretly holds more radical views than he is willing to share publicly before Election Day.
“Did Piker just admit his partner in crime is engaging in taqiyya?” the Daily Wire piece asks, before asserting that El-Sayed “would love to only center the Muslims who were killed during the War on Terror” but “can’t until he’s elected.”
Carlson’s Endorsement Sparks Conservative Backlash
Into this already combustible mix stepped Tucker Carlson. The former Republican, now a media entrepreneur with a popular newsletter, used his platform to defend El-Sayed and attack his opponent, Republican Mike Rogers. According to The Daily Wire, Carlson shrugged off the significance of 9/11, writing that the nearly 3,000 Americans killed that day “could barely fill a Division III hockey arena.” He also reportedly said there was “nothing remotely crazy” about El-Sayed’s suggestion that 9/11 remembrance often fails to center Muslims who faced harassment and violence in the aftermath.
The Daily Wire excoriated Carlson for those comments, calling him a “faux-forester, flannel-wearing freak” and arguing that 9/11 remembrance should focus on the American lives lost and the terrorists who killed them, not on the collateral cultural fallout. Carlson also said Rogers must be kept “far away from Washington,” a sentiment the outlet flipped back on El-Sayed, arguing that the Democrat is the one who should be kept far from the nation’s capital — or, better yet, the country entirely.
The op-ed catalogs a series of past statements and associations it says disqualify El-Sayed from office. Among them: a comment that “You may not hate Muslims, but I’ll tell you, Muslims definitely hate you”; mourning for Muslims killed after 9/11 “in the name of my country”; advocacy for Sharia law in America; and attendance at Islamic conventions just days before 9/11 where an imam declared “America is going down.” The piece also claims El-Sayed’s mother has ties to terror groups and that his father-in-law is among the top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood — allegations that the candidate has not addressed in the op-ed’s telling.
Piker’s own history is similarly contentious. The Daily Wire notes he has said “America deserved 9/11,” called for the destruction of the white race, and told followers to “motherf*ck the U.S. Constitution and motherf*ck this country.”
A Broader Political Battle Over Patriotism
The Daily Wire frames the Michigan contest as a microcosm of a larger national struggle. “The choice, not only in this race but in countless others across the country, is a pro-American candidate versus an anti-American candidate,” the op-ed states. The pro-American candidate, in this framing, brings “anti-terrorism attitudes, pro-capitalism ideals, USA pride, and policies that let you make your bag, raise your family, and live a quiet life.” The anti-American candidate “forgives terror, hates innovation, creation, and free markets” and would handicap the freedoms that allow for success.
The piece closes with a dark warning: “They’re openly showing you exactly what and who they are. The Trojan horse isn’t hiding anything this time; it’s made of glass, and we’re wheeling it through the gates with our eyes open. When our once-formidable country burns, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.”
Whether that rhetoric resonates with Michigan voters remains to be seen. But with Carlson’s endorsement, Piker’s stream, and a slew of viral clips from El-Sayed’s past, the race has become a national proxy fight over culture, identity, and the meaning of 9/11 — a fight the Daily Wire clearly believes El-Sayed cannot win once voters know the full story. The candidate himself has yet to respond directly to the taqiyya accusation, though his campaign is expected to keep trying to move toward the center as November approaches.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/el-sayed-is-lying-about-the-bizarre-alliance-upending-michigan