Republican Mike Rogers questioned whether Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim born in Michigan, is loyal to the United States during their Senate debate Wednesday night, claiming the Democrat was "bought off by the Muslim Brotherhood" and had donors who supported Iran-backed extremist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.
"If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know: Are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?" Rogers, a former congressman, asked during the Detroit debate.
El-Sayed, the former executive director of the Detroit Health Department, rejected the charge as a personal attack. "To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really beneath you. I am proud of America. I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray," he said, according to CNN.
The race is one of the final major Senate debates of the 2026 midterm elections and could decide control of the chamber. Michigan is currently run by Democrats, and Rogers must overcome President Donald Trump's historically low approval ratings in the state.
Why the loyalty question matters
El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the Senate if he wins. His candidacy has drawn scrutiny from Republicans, including Trump, who has made false claims that El-Sayed is a "jihadist," according to CNN. Rogers' strategy appears designed to disqualify El-Sayed in the eyes of voters by raising questions about his authenticity as an American.
El-Sayed has repudiated the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group founded in Egypt that Rogers cited during the debate. A New York Times investigation published Wednesday found that El-Sayed's mother had worked as a nurse in Missouri for a Muslim aid group that was later designated by the U.S. government as a supporter of terrorist groups. El-Sayed has said he had little relationship with his mother growing up.
The Times also reported that El-Sayed had signed an open letter in 2012 calling on the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi to "purge the media and police" of supporters of the dictatorship overthrown during the Arab Spring. Rogers said of El-Sayed during the debate, "He asked the new Muslim Brotherhood head, Morsi, in Egypt, to defund the police."
Competing for Jewish voters on Israel and Iran
Both campaigns have intensified outreach to Jewish voters in the final weeks of the race. Rogers said during the debate that some "Jewish Democrats" are "literally afraid" of El-Sayed. In his closing statement, Rogers said: "Jewish Democrats who are afraid for their children when their daughters can't wear their Star of David walking across Michigan's campus, these are real."
El-Sayed did not directly bring up Jewish voters during his own speaking time, according to The Forward. But he focused on the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which The New York Times reported is planning to contribute as much as $9 million to a pro-Rogers super PAC. El-Sayed said, "But that's what you get when you have an AIPAC-backed politician," citing the Times story during the debate.
AIPAC announced Wednesday that it would stop endorsing candidates and making direct campaign contributions through its PAC, while its affiliated super PAC would do independent election spending, according to The Forward.
On Iran, El-Sayed said "there's no doubt that Iran has posed a threat" but that the threat had been "contained" by the Obama-era nuclear agreement, from which President Trump withdrew the U.S. in 2018. Rogers accused El-Sayed of failing to condemn Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying El-Sayed "doesn't believe Iran is any more dangerous than Israel," according to The Forward.
Broader attacks on El-Sayed's politics
Rogers also sought to paint El-Sayed as too far left for Michigan voters. He claimed El-Sayed was "aligned" with the Democratic Socialists of America and wants "bigger government and more taxes." El-Sayed describes himself as a capitalist and is not a member of the DSA, but he is supported by several DSA members, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned with him through Michigan's Upper Peninsula last week, according to CNN.
El-Sayed countered that Rogers was playing a game of distraction used by Trump, saying people should be playing "MAGA bingo" at home as they ticked off Rogers' pre-planned buzzwords. "When you are winning MAGA bingo, we are all losing," he said.