El Sayed confronted with relative’s posts supporting Muslim Brotherhood after he denied affiliation

Abdul el Sayed became agitated when a journalist confronted him with a family member’s posts supporting the Muslim Brotherhood after he previously denied ties to the group.On Sunday, the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker that neither he nor his family had any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic organization of which the United States designated several chapters as a terrorist group, including chapters in Egypt where el Sayed has family.Three days later, tensions rose during a follow-up interview when NBC Nightly News journalist Tom Llamas presented social media posts from the candidate’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi. The posts, dated more than 10 years ago, expressed support for the organization. “Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college. #respect,” Abdelhadi wrote in 2012.El Sayed began his response by deflecting Llamas’s question, challenging its relevancy.“It’s funny to me. I was born in 1984 down the street in Rochester Hills,” el Sayed said. “I was raised here in Michigan, I went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt the health department in the city, led the health department in this county, and you want to ask me about what’s happening in Egypt in 1970, are you serious?”El Sayed’s tactic was similar to the one he used while addressing controversy surrounding Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has been accused of antisemitism and saying the U.S. “deserved 9/11.” El Sayed campaigned with Piker ahead of the primaries, before later writing him off as a “Twitch streamer in California” when responding to criticism.Llamas did not back down from the line of questioning, pointing out that el Sayed was asked a “direct question” on any affiliation with the group during Welker’s Sunday interview, in which el Sayed denied ties. “And do you think, do you think that, are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?” el Sayed responded. The candidate doubled down on his prior statement, saying, “I have no ties, we have no ties.” “I have never had these conversations with my mother,” el Sayed added, referencing Abdelhadi’s mention of his mother’s activism within the group. “I wasn’t raised by my mother.”El Sayed said Llamas was “using hearsay evidence from a tweet,” saying that it’s “just not serious.”According to Cornell Law School, the legal definition of hearsay is an “out-of-court statement.” The problem with hearsay is that when the person being quoted is not present, it becomes impossible to establish credibility. As a result, hearsay evidence is generally not admissible in a court of law.AIPAC TAKES ANOTHER SHOT AT EL SAYED AND HANDS ROGERS A POLITICAL GAMBLE IN MICHIGAN SENATE RACEAlthough hearsay could apply to Abdelhadi’s claim of her mother’s activism within the Muslim Brotherhood, Abdelhadi has expressed support for the group herself, including adding “#respect” to her mother’s alleged activism and at one point writing in 2013: “Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in #Egypt. Lie Low, stay safe.”El Sayed’s father-in-law also reportedly has ties to Islamic organizations named in a terrorism financing case.