Republican 'Muslim Brotherhood' attacks on Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan seek to exploit Democratic fault lines

Republican US Senate candidate Mike Rogers and allies including President Donald Trump are escalating their efforts to tie Democratic rival Abdul El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood less than two weeks before the Nov 3 midterms , with Trump falsely branding him a “jihadist. ” Pollsters and political strategists ​say the approach is aimed at dissuading Jewish and Black voters in the Detroit area who backed El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Haley Stevens, from getting behind the Democratic nominee in the closing days ‌of the Senate campaign in Michigan. “It gives them even more reason to pause and not vote for El-Sayed,” said Dennis Darnoi, a Republican political consultant. “If Democratic voters aren’t casting ballots for El-Sayed in what is the biggest population area here, then that is a net benefit to Mike Rogers’ campaign.

” El-Sayed and Rogers are vying for the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters in a race that could determine whether Democrats gain the four Senate seats needed to take control of the chamber in next month’s election. Republicans currently have a 53-47 ​seat majority, which would be harder to overturn if El-Sayed loses. The Democrat has built a small lead in opinion polls by focusing his campaign on affordability, healthcare and getting money out of politics. Rogers has ​sought to undermine the Democrat’s support among Jewish voters by pointing to El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and asserting that El-Sayed has longstanding family ties to the Muslim ⁠Brotherhood . Strategists said homing in on the Muslim Brotherhood also aims to hurt El-Sayed by exploiting economic tensions between Black voters and Michigan’s large Arab-American community. Rogers has pointed ​to old social media posts by El-Sayed’s half sister saying their…