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CASE #0034 · OPENED 5 NOV · UPDATED 2H AGO · CLOSED

Michigan Senate race: the smears about Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers, and what the coverage supports

El-Sayed won Michigan's Senate seat after a campaign full of viral rumors; the sources we reviewed back none of the main smears, and Snopes calls the 9/11 one inaccurate.

Evidence board

  • FalseAbdul El-Sayed said America "deserved" the 9/11 attacks.1 / 6 sources

    Snopes lists this among the "inaccurate rumors" aimed at El-Sayed and notes it is oft-repeated. The excerpt we have does not reproduce its full reasoning or the underlying quotes, so the detailed evidence should be checked in the full Snopes piece.

  • UnsupportedEl-Sayed belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood and is a "jihadist".2 / 6 sources

    Al Jazeera calls the Muslim Brotherhood claim unfounded and widely circulated among Republicans, and describes the "jihadist" label as an unfounded accusation. None of the articles presents evidence for either claim. Al Jazeera is a news outlet, not a formal fact-check, and the articles do not include a detailed rebuttal.

  • UnsupportedEl-Sayed "hates Jews and hates Blacks" (and Whites), and any Black or Jewish person who backs him is "crazy".3 / 6 sources

    This is Trump's Truth Social post and rhetoric as quoted by Al Jazeera. No evidence is offered in the articles. Al Jazeera reports that early results showed El-Sayed doing well with Black voters in Detroit, which cuts against the electoral premise. NPR separately reports that some Jewish voters were alienated by his positions on Israel and by comments after a synagogue preschool attack, for which he apologised. That is a documented criticism, not proof of the "hates" claim.

  • UnclearMike Rogers had ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.1 / 6 sources

    Snopes calls this a misleading rumor spread by El-Sayed supporters. The excerpt does not say what the rumor rested on or how it was misleading, so we cannot judge the details from the provided material.

  • UnsupportedRogers is corrupt.1 / 6 sources

    Snopes says El-Sayed's supporters claimed this. The excerpt gives no evidence and no ruling, so the claim stays unsupported on the material provided.

  • VerifiedEl-Sayed won the Michigan Senate race and will be the first Muslim senator in US history.4 / 6 sources

    NPR reports the win on the basis of an Associated Press race call, and Al Jazeera reports the same result in several pieces.

Analysis

Michigan's 2026 Senate race was one of the most-watched contests of the midterms, and it was also thick with rumors. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat and former public health official, defeated Republican Mike Rogers. Along the way, claims circulated about what El-Sayed believes and about who Rogers associated with. This post sorts what the provided sources support from what they don't.

What's being claimed

Several claims ran through the campaign:

  • That El-Sayed said America "deserved" 9/11. Snopes says this is oft-repeated.
  • That he is a "jihadist" and belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Jazeera reports that Trump repeatedly used the "jihadist" label and repeated the Brotherhood claim.
  • That he "hates Jews and hates Blacks". This comes from a Trump post on election morning, quoted in the same Al Jazeera report.
  • On the other side, that Rogers is corrupt, and that he had ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Snopes attributes these to El-Sayed's supporters and calls the Epstein rumor misleading.

What the evidence shows

The 9/11 claim is the clearest. Snopes lists it among the "inaccurate rumors" about El-Sayed. The excerpt we have is only the introduction to a five-claim collection, so it does not reproduce the underlying quotes or the full reasoning. A reader who wants the primary evidence should consult the complete Snopes entry.

The Muslim Brotherhood and "jihadist" claims are unsupported in the material provided. Al Jazeera calls the Brotherhood allegation unfounded and the "jihadist" label an unfounded accusation, but it is a news outlet rather than a fact-checker, and it offers no detailed rebuttal. No article presents evidence for either claim. The same goes for the claim that El-Sayed "hates" particular groups. It is an assertion in a social media post, and Al Jazeera reports that he performed well with Black voters in Detroit.

There is a real, documented criticism that should not be conflated with the smears. NPR reports that his positions on Israel, and comments after a truck-ramming attack at a synagogue preschool in metro Detroit, alienated some Jewish voters. He later apologised for those comments. Al Jazeera also reports that he accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. Those are political positions and disputes, separate from the claims about terrorism or hatred.

On the Rogers side, the Epstein and corruption claims are described by Snopes only as supporters' rhetoric and a "misleading" rumor. The excerpt does not show the evidence either way, so we leave the Epstein claim as unclear and the corruption claim as unsupported on this material.

The outcome itself is not in doubt. NPR reports the win based on an Associated Press call, and Al Jazeera confirms it. El-Sayed will be the first Muslim in the Senate.

How outlets covered it

Snopes frames the race as one where rumors flowed in both directions, and it sorts them rather than choosing a side. Al Jazeera gives the most space to the anti-Muslim rhetoric, and its headlines emphasise El-Sayed winning "despite" or "rejecting" it. Its coverage includes voices from Arab American and Black communities in Michigan and quotes Trump's words directly. It also reports the Haley Stevens endorsement of Rogers, citing the AIPAC spending and El-Sayed's criticism of Israel. NPR is more neutral and procedural. It describes the campaign as a test of an antiestablishment left candidate in a swing state, and it notes the Islamophobia criticism alongside the criticisms from Jewish voters. NPR also says Rogers embraced some of Trump's false election-fraud claims.

The outlets differ on the Senate balance. One Al Jazeera piece says El-Sayed's win helps Democrats regain control. Another says the seat was already Democratic, so it does not meaningfully tip the balance. Both cannot be fully right, and the provided articles do not settle the national result.

What we still don't know

We have not seen the full Snopes analysis, so we cannot say exactly what evidence it weighs on each rumor, including the Epstein claim. We also do not know what, if anything, the Rogers corruption claim rests on. The articles do not show how far the smears moved voters, though El-Sayed's win suggests they did not decide the race. And the national Senate majority is not clarified by these sources.

Sources

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