Muslim Brotherhood Figure Hails El-Sayed Senate Win as ‘Model’

Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardiri, a former spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party in Egypt, hailed Abdulrahman El-Sayed’s election to the U.S. Senate as a model for Muslims advancing their cause “from within the political system,” according to a post. Eitan Fischberger, a pro-Israel commentator, posted that al-Dardiri called the Michigan Democrat’s victory a win for the “Islamic world” and a template other Muslims could follow. In his telling, the former Muslim Brotherhood figure held up the result as a lesson. Fischberger quoted al-Dardiri directly. The former official said El-Sayed’s rise proved Muslims could work “from within the political system” for the “Islamic world.” El-Sayed, 42, defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) on Tuesday. He took about 52.5 percent of the vote to Rogers’ 45.6 percent, with nearly all ballots counted. He is the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, and he will succeed retiring Democrat Sen. Gary Peters. Ikhwan Online, a publication tied to the group, celebrated El-Sayed’s August primary win over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). It cast the result as a blow to what it called the “Zionist occupation.” The outlet also praised his call to cut off unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel. Al-Dardiri, identified in federal campaign records as Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, served as foreign affairs spokesman for the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party before Egypt’s 2013 military coup, and now works as a professor in Minnesota. He donated $500 to El-Sayed’s campaign in June, those records show. He was one of several donors with Muslim Brotherhood ties. El-Sayed received more than $25,000 from at least six men who co-signed a 2012 letter backing then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which reported El-Sayed signed the same letter as a medical student. El-Sayed has denied any connection. Rogers claimed during the race that his opponent “pledged his support to the Muslim Brotherhood,” a charge President Donald Trump amplified by calling El-Sayed a “jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member.” Bridge Michigan found no evidence that El-Sayed has ties to the Brotherhood or pledged support, and he reported that he did not sign the 2012 Morsi letter. “I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, I never will be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” El-Sayed told Fox News.