A review of broadcast transcripts and website archives indicates that major legacy news organizations have largely omitted coverage of allegations linking the family of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood. This lack of reporting persists despite El-Sayed's explicit denials and the emergence of social media posts from his half-sister suggesting otherwise.
Fox News Digital conducted a review of transcripts from ABC, CBS, CNN, MS NOW, and The New York Times as of Thursday, October 15. The analysis found that ABC and CBS had not mentioned the allegations on their morning or evening news broadcasts. While CBS eventually touched on the topic on Friday, it did so only to note that El-Sayed had denied the claims made by his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. CNN and MS NOW also failed to air dedicated news reports on the matter during that period, despite extensive daily programming hours.
The New York Times, often referred to as "The Paper of Record," published no reports on the subject that week according to website search results. NBC emerged as the sole broadcast network identified in the review that covered the allegations directly. The network questioned El-Sayed in two separate interviews, prompting a defensive response from the candidate.
The controversy stems from posts by El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, a professor at the University of Chicago. In a 2012 post on X, formerly Twitter, Abdelhadi wrote about having a conversation with her mother regarding her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 1970s while in college. She later stated in another 2012 post that her family had long been associated with the group, though she criticized its political navigation. A 2013 post showed her praying for family members supporting the group in Egypt. The Washington Free Beacon first reported on these posts.
El-Sayed has consistently denied any connection to the organization. During an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," he told host Kristen Welker that he had no ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and accused his rival of using Islamophobic attacks. On "NBC Nightly News," anchor Tom Llamas confronted El-Sayed about the apparent contradiction between his denial and his sister's posts. El-Sayed responded by noting he was born in Rochester Hills and raised in Michigan, questioning why he was being asked about events in Egypt in 1970. He characterized Llamas's inquiry as relying on hearsay from a tweet.
Network hosts and guests offered varying perspectives on the issue. On CNN, Abby Phillip argued that El-Sayed was not raised by his biological mother and that unverified allegations did not establish a connection to the group. Conversely, conservative guest Jesse Arm told viewers on Friday morning that El-Sayed's family had deep ties to the organization, a comment met with pushback from anchor Erica Hill, who cited fact-checking efforts. Jacob Soboroff, a guest host for MS NOW, criticized El-Sayed's opponent for focusing on smears against the Muslim Democrat.
Representatives for ABC, CBS, CNN, MS NOW, and The New York Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding their coverage decisions.