Michigan’s Senate race is now being fought over a terrorism list written in Washington last November

On 5 October, Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, whether he would support terrorist designations for Brotherhood organisations in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan if elected; per Newsweek’s compilation of his remarks, his answer included the formulation that terrorism is “the act of political violence.” Newsweek also reports his Substack was made private as scrutiny of his past writing increased. At a campaign event in a red-leaning Michigan county over the weekend of 17–18 October, a young man asked whether he would disavow the Brotherhood. The Washington Post covered the exchange on 18 October, noting a split reception and quoting his opponent’s camp calling the answer “word salad.” The same day, Republican candidate Mike Rogers said El-Sayed “didn’t disavow” the group. On 19 October PolitiFact checked that claim against video in which El-Sayed answers: “Sure, yeah, absolutely.”

The list the question turns on is recent. Executive Order 14362, signed 24 November 2025, directed Treasury and State to assess the Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian chapters for FTO and SDGT designation. On 13 January, Treasury and State acted: OFAC designated the Egyptian and Jordanian branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under E.O. 13224, citing material support to Hamas, with Secretary Scott Bessent saying the Brotherhood “has a longstanding record of perpetrating acts of terror.” HSToday reported three chapters designated that day; the Treasury release names Egypt and Jordan. On 9 March, State designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as an SDGT, citing the al-Baraa bin Malik Brigade and its IRGC connections, with FTO designation effective 16 March. The Charity & Security Network argues the order’s reach to “chapters and other subdivisions” circumvents guardrails that blocked earlier proposals.

Assessment: Nothing in this week’s reporting establishes an organisational link between the candidate and the Brotherhood; what it establishes is that a nine-month-old designation architecture has become a usable instrument in domestic politics, which is a different and more durable fact. Note what the designation does and does not do. It names chapters in three countries and routes them through sanctions law; it was never designed to adjudicate the loyalties of American citizens, and it is now doing exactly that by proxy. One load-bearing detail remains open: whether the Lebanese chapter was actually designated on 13 January. If it was not, the order is eleven months old and a third unexecuted — while the question it generated is being asked at rallies in Michigan.