Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers fired back at NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker on Sunday over his allegations about Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing Welker of defending his rival during a heated exchange about the Islamist organization.
Rogers challenged Welker after she said that El-Sayed had already disavowed any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and defended her previous interview with El-Sayed in which he denied any ties to the group.
“No, he has not, he dismissed the question … I don’t know why you give this guy a pass,” Rogers said, as the two interrupted each other. “You are giving him a pass on something he should be accountable for.”
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Welker pressed Rogers on his own 2012 remarks, displaying a past quote where he said the U.S. would have to “reach out to and talk to” moderate members of the Muslim Brotherhood and asking whether he acknowledged having once been willing to engage with them.
Rogers accused Welker of twisting his words to defend El-Sayed rather than scrutinize his opponent’s record. He explained that, as House Intelligence Committee chairman at the time, his focus was on preserving intelligence cooperation between Egypt and Israel to prevent further regional violence.
“What you’re doing now is trying to twist this thing to defend your position for letting him lie to you,” he added.
The confrontation intensified when Welker pressed Rogers about President Donald Trump’s characterization of El-Sayed as a violent terrorist. Welker challenged the accusation, saying there was no evidence to support it. She also noted that El-Sayed had denied any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and publicly disavowed the organization.
Rogers rejected the suggestion that he had personally described his Democratic opponent as a terrorist.
“I’ve never called him a terrorist,” Rogers said.
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Rogers’ campaign doubled down on his criticism in a statement to Fox News Digital, with spokesperson Abby Ronson questioning El-Sayed’s responses and urging national media outlets to scrutinize his record.
“Abdul is an Oxford-trained debater,” Ronson said. “Yet every time he’s asked about his support of the Muslim Brotherhood, he deflects, gets angry and dismisses the question. Michiganders deserve an answer on what should be an incredibly easy question to answer.”
“Why won’t his campaign put out an equivocal [sic] statement disavowing a terrorist organization? The national media should start asking him why that is instead of making excuses for him,” she continued.
Rogers’ allegations stem from previously reported connections between El-Sayed, members of his family and the Muslim Brotherhood, including a 2012 letter supporting Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Morsi.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that El-Sayed was among 46 Egyptian American community figures who signed a November 2012 letter backing Morsi’s decisions and urging him to purge Egypt’s police and media. The outlet identified El-Sayed as a signatory to the letter, which was published as Morsi faced criticism for expanding his presidential powers.
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Past social media posts from El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, recently surfaced and described their family’s history with the Muslim Brotherhood. In one 2012 post, Abdelhadi acknowledged longstanding family connections to the organization.
“My family has long been MB, but I’ve always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively,” Abdelhadi said.
In another post, Abdelhadi described a conversation with her mother about participating in Muslim Brotherhood activism while attending college in Egypt during the 1970s.
El-Sayed has maintained that he was raised by his father and stepmother and has accused Rogers of exploiting his Muslim faith for political purposes. Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
He denied that he or his family had ties to the organization when Welker questioned him during an Oct. 11 appearance on “Meet the Press.”
“No,” El-Sayed said when Welker asked whether he or his family had any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.