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Viral moments on the campaign trail often crystallize both the key issues in a race and how candidates respond to them. That’s what happened Saturday when a heckler confronted Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, about whether he condemned the Muslim Brotherhood, which many consider a terrorist group. El-Sayed, who is Muslim, quickly responded: “Of course, yes, absolutely” before questioning the heckler, who identified himself as “Tommy,” about the thinking behind it. “You ask because you implicitly assume that I will have dual loyalties, correct?” El-Sayed asked before paraphrasing John F. Kennedy’s famous line about whether his Catholic faith would make him loyal to the pope. “I’m not running to be a Muslim senator. I’m running for the United States Senate and I happen to be Muslim,” El-Sayed said to applause.
Identity is not incidental to El-Sayed’s candidacy. He spoke about being the child of Egyptian immigrants, harshly criticized Israel’s war in Gaza and was criticized for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a controversial left-wing streamer. Yet Republicans have openly attacked El-Sayed’s faith as he vies to become the United States’ first Muslim senator. Former Rep. Mike Rogers, El-Sayed’s opponent in next month’s election, has claimed without evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood is funding El-Sayed’s campaign and suggested that members of El-Sayed’s family have ties to terrorism. Donald Trump makes fun of his middle name, Mohamed. And it turns out that Tommy is reportedly a former Republican staffer. So I asked my colleague Aymann Ismail, who covered El-Sayed for Slate — and who is also a Muslim American of Egyptian descent — what this viral exchange says about El-Sayed’s historic candidacy.
Ian: What stood out to you in the clip?
Ayman: I think this is an integral part of the American Muslim experience. Anyone who shares this identity can immediately think of a time when they were asked the same question. One year, while I was waiting in line to get my credentials at the Republican National Convention, someone learned I was Muslim and asked if I condemned the Prophet Muhammad. So I think it’s important to recognize that El-Sayed doesn’t just speak for himself, he speaks for all of us.
You wrote about how El-Sayed sometimes downplayed his faith even as his opponents try to center him. Why do you think this is the case?
There is an entire political ecosystem that tries to convince people that there is something about Muslims that makes them dangerous. El-Sayed’s opponents are also showing voters clips showing him, for example, campaigning with Piker, which could be their first experience of El-Sayed. He must take this into account when seeking the highest elected office a Muslim has ever held.
I was struck by the fact that El-Sayed’s campaign shared the clip of his exchange with Tommy. My sense is that some Michigan voters appreciate El-Sayed’s confrontational rhetorical style, while others find him too aggressive. What have you seen in terms of voter reaction to him?
I saw both. Before El-Sayed was a candidate, I followed him to a local Democratic convention, where he spoke to different groups of community leaders. Speaking to the Arab-American caucus, he was confident. When he spoke with the American Jewish Caucus, he had a more reserved, “I’m here to listen” energy. I visit every other day with a woman I met in this room, a community leader involved in Jewish voter organizing. She told me repeatedly that El-Sayed seemed like an overly masculine guy who was committing a right-wing macho act. So it’s not only conceivable that voters might view him as too aggressive – I’ve heard that some people are put off by this. But at the same time, one of the stereotypes about Muslim men is that they are dominant. I’ve watched this clip a thousand times. El-Sayed is not threatening; he doesn’t call Tommy a racist. He asks him to think a little deeper about why he would ask that question in the first place.
You also covered El-Sayed’s difficulties in convincing black voters. Given all that, what do you think of his chances next month?
Some polls give him a lead, and betting markets give him about a 70 percent chance of winning. I’m a little skeptical. I think it will be much closer, especially because of what I have heard from voters on the ground. And El-Sayed has made comments that have upset people, like when he spoke about an attack on a Jewish temple in March and said, “Hurt people, hurt people.” Some are urging Jewish voters to leave their Senate ballots blank, part of a campaign that mirrors the “uncommitted” movement in the 2024 elections. Right now, the community leader I’m in contact with thinks she won’t vote at all.
That’s a lot of politics for a Monday, so let’s move on to something more relaxing, like my colleagues’ suggestions for what to eat, read, and watch tonight:
Nibble a starter: It used to be that the main course was the main point of a restaurant meal. But today, with rising prices, the spread of GLP-1 which suppresses the appetite and the omnipresence of small plates, main courses are increasingly left behind. Maggie Hennessy explores what diners’ changing preferences mean at dinner time.
Add this book to your reading list: Chemistry lessonsthe first novel by Bonnie Garmus, was one of the most popular books of 2022. Today, Garmus is back with her second book, Peck and peckwhich is “a workplace comedy, a New York coming-of-age story, and a dizzying satire.” Slate book critic Laura Miller found it charming.
Learn more about whale biology: If you have seen or heard about the film Whale fallin which a diver is swallowed by a whale, you probably wondered if the hypothesis was plausible. Luckily for skeptics, Nadira Goffe interviewed a whale biologist about the film’s realism. Turns out the movie has some important details!
Take stock of your streaming subscriptions: Hollywood is changing. A small number of giant companies now control a massive share of the industry, as evidenced by the recent acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. As the entertainment industry consolidates, Netflix and Disney are taking unprecedented steps to survive. Nitish Pahwa, Slate’s business and technology editor, explains it all.
OK, that’s it for me today. Enjoy your night and watch out for the hungry whales!
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