Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, was among 46 signatories of a 2012 letter that urged Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to "purge the media and the police," according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon. The Arabic-language statement, published on the Egyptian news site Al-Ahram Gate in November 2012, praised Morsi’s recent assertion of sweeping executive powers as "revolutionary" and opposed intervention by the United States and Europe. El-Sayed, then a medical student at Columbia University, signed the document as "Dr. Abdul Rahman El-Sayed" of New York. His campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the letter.
The letter emerged during a period of significant political instability in Egypt following the 2011 Arab Spring. Morsi, a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, had recently issued a constitutional declaration that expanded his authority over the judiciary and legislative bodies. This move drew sharp criticism from Egyptian opposition leaders and international human rights organizations, which argued it undermined democratic norms. The letter signed by El-Sayed and other self-described leaders of the Egyptian-American community defended Morsi’s actions, framing them as necessary steps in the revolutionary process.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive commentators and supporters of El-Sayed emphasize the context of the 2012 period, noting that many in the Egyptian-American community initially viewed Morsi’s rise as a democratic breakthrough after decades of military rule. They argue that the letter reflected a hope for stability and democratic transition rather than an endorsement of authoritarianism. Supporters point out that El-Sayed was a medical student at the time, not a politician, and that his views have evolved through his subsequent public service in Michigan, including his role as Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. They contend that the current focus on a 14-year-old signature is an attempt to discredit a candidate based on the political landscape of a foreign country at a specific historical moment.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative critics, including Laura Loomer who first reported the story in April, argue that the letter demonstrates a troubling alignment with the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization they describe as a gateway to extremism. Mariam Wahba of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) stated that the endorsement "should raise serious questions" about El-Sayed’s judgment and connections. The Daily Wire and other right-leaning outlets highlight the subsequent crackdown on journalists and police purges under Morsi, citing the Committee to Protect Journalists’ reports of reporters being hauled into court and critical coverage vanishing. They also point to El-Sayed’s earlier writings for the Huffington Post and the Guardian, where he argued that a Brotherhood-led Egypt would not resemble Iran or Hamas, a claim critics now view as naive or misleading.
What the Numbers Show
The letter in question was signed by 46 individuals and published in November 2012, shortly after Morsi’s constitutional declaration. Morsi was removed from power by the Egyptian military in July 2013, and the Muslim Brotherhood was subsequently banned and designated a terror group by the Egyptian government. According to the FDD, a 2025 research memo describes the Brotherhood as a "gateway" to terrorism, noting that Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981, emerged from the Brotherhood’s original branch. In the United States, the Treasury Department designated the Brotherhood’s Egyptian and Jordanian branches as terror organizations in January 2025. Additionally, in July 2025, the Trump administration sanctioned a top Egyptian Brotherhood official for allegedly supporting fundraising for Hamas-linked institutions. Data from the Committee to Protect Journalists indicates a significant decline in press freedom in Egypt during Morsi’s brief tenure, with multiple journalists facing legal action for allegedly insulting the president or Islam.
The Bottom Line
The revelation of El-Sayed’s signature on the 2012 letter has become a focal point in the Michigan Senate race, raising questions about the candidate’s past associations with the Muslim Brotherhood and his foreign policy judgment. While his supporters argue that the context of the Arab Spring makes the letter a reflection of pro-democratic hopes at the time, critics view it as evidence of a longstanding sympathy for an organization linked to extremist movements. With the U.S. government recently tightening sanctions on Brotherhood affiliates and their financial networks, the issue intersects with broader national debates on foreign policy and domestic security. Voters will likely weigh this historical record against El-Sayed’s current platform and his experience in state government as the election approaches.