Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardiri, a former spokesman for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood party, praised Abdulrahman El-Sayed’s election to the U.S. Senate, calling him an example of Muslims advancing their cause “from within the political system,” according to a post.
Pro-Israel commentator Eitan Fischberger tweeted that Dadiri called the Michigan Democrats’ victory a victory for the “Islamic world” and a template for other Muslims to follow.
In his account, the former Muslim Brotherhood figure viewed the outcome as a lesson. Fischberg quoted Dadiri directly. Said’s rise proved that Muslims could work “within the political system” for “the Islamic world,” the former official said.
El-Sayed, 42, defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) on Tuesday. He received about 52.5% of the vote to Rogers’ 45.6%, with nearly all votes counted. He is the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate and will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
Ikhwan Online, a publication associated with the group, celebrated El-Sayed’s victory over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the August primary. It sees the outcome as a blow to what it calls the “Zionist occupation”. The outlet also praised his call to cut off unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel.
Al-Dardiri, identified in federal campaign records as Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, served as foreign affairs spokesman for the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party before Egypt’s 2013 military coup and now works as a professor in Minnesota. The records show he donated $500 to El-Sayed’s campaign in June.
He is one of several donors with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed received more than $25,000 from at least six men who co-signed a letter in 2012 supporting then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which reported that El-Sayed signed the same letter when he was a medical student.
El-Sayed denies any connection. Rogers claimed during the campaign that his opponent was “committed to supporting the Muslim Brotherhood,” a charge that President Donald Trump amplified by calling El-Sayed a “Jihadi Muslim Brotherhood member.”
Michigan Bridge found no evidence that El-Said had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or pledged support, and he reported that he did not sign the 2012 Morsi letter.
“I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and I will never be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” El-Sayed told Fox News.