Rogers fires back at Welker over El-Sayed’s Muslim Brotherhood controversy, ‘You are giving him a pass’
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers accused NBC’s Kristen Welker of giving his Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed, a pass over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Welker said El-Sayed had denied affiliation with the group and challenged Rogers over his own earlier remarks about engaging with its moderate members.
Rogers said those 2012 remarks concerned protecting intelligence cooperation between Egypt and Israel, and denied calling El-Sayed a terrorist. The article cites a 2012 letter backing Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, which El-Sayed reportedly signed with 45 others, and social media posts by his half-sister describing family connections to the Brotherhood. El-Sayed has denied ties to the organisation.
In short
- Rogers accused Welker of going easy on El-Sayed.
- Welker raised Rogers’s past remarks about engaging with the Brotherhood.
- El-Sayed has denied affiliation with the organisation.
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The case for
Rogers’s position is that voters deserve careful scrutiny of any evidence that might bear on a candidate’s associations, and that El-Sayed’s reported signature on a letter and his family connections merit direct questions even if he denies affiliation. He argues that Welker’s focus on his own past comments about engaging with moderate members of the Brotherhood risks leaving those questions unanswered.
The case against
Welker’s approach is that allegations of affiliation should not be treated as established fact: El-Sayed has denied ties, and the reported letter and his half-sister’s posts do not by themselves demonstrate membership. She also argues that Rogers’s own remarks about engaging with the group’s moderate members are relevant context when he raises the issue, and that he should be asked to explain them.