Al Jazeera reported on an anti-Muslim campaign against El-Sayyid on X
Following Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, an anti-Muslim campaign spread on the social media platform X. An Al Jazeera investigation concluded that the campaign appeared to be coordinated: its participants took the word “inshallah” out of context from the politician’s speech on election night.
El-Sayyed used this Arabic expression, which means “if God wills it,” when expressing his hope that his victory would show that money alone does not determine the outcome of U.S. elections. At the same time, a number of accounts presented this excerpt as alleged evidence of a religious and ideological threat to the country. Right-wing influencer Benny Johnson posted a video that garnered over 193,000 views, and a post by the ALX account with a similar interpretation was viewed over 80,000 times.
According to the publication, a network analysis of the first 24 hours of the campaign identified 1,966 accounts and over 2,500 interactions. The Open Source Unit recorded 1,847 reposts, 1,157 quotes, and 1,536 mentions. The spread of these messages occurred largely through reposts, and the initial narratives were promoted by several influential accounts, after which they were picked up by other users.
In particular, the End Wokeness account shared a context-free excerpt from El-Sayyid’s speech in which he said that his supporters would not “rise above” but would “drag” their opponents “into the mud and suffocate them.” As Al Jazeera notes, the politician made these remarks at an event in August 2025, paraphrasing a well-known phrase by former First Lady Michelle Obama and criticizing the political attacks by supporters of the MAGA movement.
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The rhetoric on X later escalated into baseless claims about Sharia law allegedly spreading to the U.S. and an “invasion” of Michigan. The city of Hamtramck, where Arab Muslims make up 25% of the 28,000 residents, also became a target: it was called an “occupied city” due to immigration and the expansion of mosques.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz circulated a clip from the hearings in which a witness alleged that El-Sayyid had ties to groups associated with the “Muslim Brotherhood.” After the official primary results were announced, U.S. President Donald Trump called the Democrat an “anti-Semite” and an “enemy of Israel.” According to Al Jazeera, his rhetoric combined far-right narratives into a Republican attack aimed at mobilizing voters in favor of El-Sayyed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, in the November election.
El-Sayed, responding to accusations of anti-Semitism, affirmed his commitment to the safety of American Jews and compared his concern for them to his concern for his own daughters. During his campaign, he also emphasized that all Americans have the right to a quality education, healthcare, and decent work, regardless of their background, skin color, or religious practices.
