Abdul El-Sayed’s Fox News interview took a sharp turn when Bret Baier asked about old statements and social media posts connected, according to Republican critics, to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate was not interested in letting the question cruise by unchallenged. Nothing says smooth campaign interview quite like interrupting the interviewer before he finishes setting up the question.
Baier interviewed El-Sayed on Friday for Special Report in Detroit, 11 days before the Nov. 3 election. The program also featured Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in a separate interview. Baier raised a 2012 statement involving Mohamed Morsi, the former Egyptian president affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The question was tied to allegations from the Rogers campaign about El-Sayed’s past views and associations.
“No, no, no, let me just stop there,” El-Sayed interrupted. “You are asking this question to raise a question about whether or not I have dual loyalties.” Baier explained that he was asking about allegations raised by Rogers’ campaign. “I will be loyal to the Constitution of the United States,” El-Sayed said. “Don’t be Rogers’ campaign,” he continued. “I’m asking a question,” Baier replied. “Be a journalist,” El-Sayed shot back. “I am,” Baier responded.
The exchange is the entire political-media food fight in miniature. A candidate hears an uncomfortable question, the interviewer insists it is journalism, and everyone discovers that a television studio can get tense very quickly. The underlying issue is whether old statements should influence how voters view a candidate today. That question does not disappear simply because the candidate dislikes its framing.
A post from Kyle Martinsen includes the clip referenced in the report:
Republicans have been emphasizing El-Sayed’s older statements in a late-stage effort to help Rogers in the Michigan Senate race. The report says El-Sayed vigorously denies having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which it describes as an Islamist group viewed as an influential predecessor to some prominent fundamentalist Islamic groups. It also says Congress has investigated the organization as a potential global threat.
That history includes a January 2011 essay in HuffPost. In it, El-Sayed argued that a Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt after Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow would not be as bad as some critics feared. He wrote that the military would not support the group’s leadership bid unless “strong liberal democratic structures were in place,” and he rejected comparisons between a Brotherhood-led Egypt and Hamas’s leadership in Gaza.
Republicans also point to a 2012 statement signed after Morsi gained power. The letter urged him “to purge the media and police as quickly as possible.” Its signatories said, “We affirm, as Egyptian Americans, that we strongly reject those voices that are courting America and Europe to take a position against the Egyptian regime.” The Washington Free Beacon first reported El-Sayed’s support for the letter last month, according to the report.
El-Sayed has also faced questions about posts by his half-sister, who claimed their family had long-standing ties to “MB,” referring to the Muslim Brotherhood, and that some relatives were jailed in Egypt because of activism in the group. Those are serious allegations, but the candidate denies the connection. Voters can decide how much weight to give years-old posts and statements. They can also expect a direct answer when a journalist asks about them. Getting heated may make for viral television, but it does not settle the underlying question.
The source also includes another X post related to the controversy:
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