A False Claim, Close Polls, and a Horse-Race Question
The Guardian says the Republican effort to cast Democrat Abdul El-Sayed as an Islamic extremist rests on a false claim first made by Laura Loomer. The BBC asked why the Michigan Senate race is close.
The Michigan Senate race pits Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, and polls suggest the contest is close, according to the BBC. BBC journalist Sarah Smith asked El-Sayed why polls suggest his contest against Rogers is so close.
For many voters skeptical of mainstream media and political elites, the more telling story is the one the Guardian reviewed: the Republican campaign to defeat El-Sayed by casting him as an Islamic extremist is based on a false claim first made by Laura Loomer eight years ago. The Guardian describes Loomer as a conspiracy theorist and an influential outside adviser to Donald Trump, and reports that she calls herself "a proud Islamophobe."
The claim concerns the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Guardian. The Guardian reports that the 2012 open letter El-Sayed signed supported democracy in Egypt, not the Islamist group, and that Loomer has claimed since El-Sayed entered politics in 2018 that the letter was something other than what it was. Trump allies amplified the claim, according to the Guardian.
Original reporting
BBC News
Watch: BBC asks Democrat El-Sayed about tight Michigan Senate race
The BBC's Sarah Smith asks Democrat Abdul El-Sayed why polls suggest his contest against Republican Mike Rogers is so close.
Read the original →The Guardian
How Laura Loomer and Trump allies amplified ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ lie dogging Abdul El-Sayed
Michigan US Senate candidate signaled support for Egypt’s pro-democracy movement in 2012, not Islamist group The Republican campaign to defeat Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race by casting him as an Islamic extremist is based on a false claim first made by the conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer eight years ago, a Guardian review of the evidence reveals. Loomer, an influential outside adviser to Donald Trump who calls herself “a proud Islamophobe”, has claimed since El-Sayed entered politics in 2018 that an open letter he signed in support of democracy in Egypt in 2012 was a…
Read the original →
Facts this version was allowed to use
- Abdul El-Sayed is a Democrat running for US Senate in Michigan.
- Mike Rogers is a Republican running against Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race.
- Sarah Smith is a BBC journalist.
- The BBC's Sarah Smith asked Democrat Abdul El-Sayed why polls suggest his contest against Republican Mike Rogers is so close.
- Polls suggest the Michigan Senate contest between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers is close, according to the BBC.
- Laura Loomer is described by the Guardian as a conspiracy theorist and an influential outside adviser to Donald Trump.
- Laura Loomer calls herself "a proud Islamophobe", according to the Guardian.
- According to a Guardian review of the evidence, the Republican campaign to defeat Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race by casting him as an Islamic extremist is based on a false claim first made by Laura Loomer eight years ago.
- Laura Loomer has claimed since El-Sayed entered politics in 2018 that an open letter he signed in support of democracy in Egypt in 2012 was something other than what it was, according to the Guardian.
- Abdul El-Sayed signed an open letter in 2012 in support of democracy in Egypt, according to the Guardian.
- The Guardian reports that the 2012 letter signaled support for Egypt's pro-democracy movement, not the Islamist group.
- The claim against Abdul El-Sayed concerns the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Guardian.
- Trump allies amplified the claim against Abdul El-Sayed, according to the Guardian.
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