Rod Dreher praises Tom Llamas for pressing Abdul El-Sayed

Rod Dreher praised NBC anchor Tom Llamas on Oct. 15 after Llamas questioned Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about his sister’s posts concerning their family’s Muslim Brotherhood ties.

Dreher quoted Houck’s Oct. 14 post.

What Dreher praised is the exchange that followed, in which Llamas put the posts to El-Sayed on air and asked him to explain them.

Llamas presses El-Sayed

On NBC Nightly News, Llamas read El-Sayed's half-sister's posts aloud and asked, "Can you just explain it?" El-Sayed answered with a question of his own: "You want to ask me about what was happening in Egypt in 1970? Are you serious²?" Llamas held the line: "I get it, but you were asked a question and you gave an answer¹."

Posts challenge earlier denial

The question had a dated record behind it. On Meet the Press on Sunday, Oct. 11, NBC's Kristen Welker asked whether El-Sayed or his family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and he said no to both³.

His half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, wrote in June 2012: "My family has long been MB, but I’ve always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively." On July 3, 2013, she wrote: "I don’t support the #MB, but I have had family jailed for being a part of it³." Another 2012 post, per Fox News, described "an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect⁴."

The Washington Free Beacon first reported the posts, which resurfaced the day El-Sayed fielded Welker's questions³. The Free Beacon also reports that in 2012 El-Sayed signed an open letter calling on the newly elected Brotherhood to "purge" the press and police in Egypt².

A separate 2013 post, reported by Fox News, extended Abdelhadi’s references to relatives: “Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in #Egypt. Lie low, stay safe.”⁴ The Washington Free Beacon also reported that El-Sayed wrote in a 2021 Substack post, later deleted, defending a friend jailed for funding the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood².

Poll shows narrow Senate race

Voters are weighing these answers in a race that RedState calls "neck-and-neck¹." A Fox News poll of likely voters put El-Sayed ahead of Republican Mike Rogers, 50% to 49%⁵. Llamas himself told ClickOnDetroit that Michigan's race is "very tight," and the open seat, vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters, is decided Nov. 3⁶.

The candidates are also offering voters sharply different economic pitches: ClickOnDetroit reports that El-Sayed is campaigning for Medicare for All and reduced corporate influence, while Rogers emphasizes lower living costs, Michigan manufacturing and bringing jobs back. The Senate seat also carries national consequences: NBC News reports that Senate control shapes committee leadership, the legislative agenda and confirmation of presidential nominees, including federal judges⁶.

WWMT’s report on a Mitchell Research & Communications poll put El-Sayed at 45.6% and Rogers at 41.4%. The poll had 6% undecided and a stated margin of error of 3.8%. Pollster Steve Mitchell said independents favored El-Sayed 46% to 34%, reversing an earlier deficit; the poll also showed Rogers ahead among voters 45 and older. WWMT reports Rogers lost to Elissa Slotkin in 2024 by 0.3 percentage points⁷, placing this contest in a recent history of narrow Michigan Senate races.

El-Sayed calls posts hearsay

El-Sayed's answer was to attack the evidence: "Like, you're using hearsay evidence from a tweet. This is not serious." Asked about his mother, he said, "I have never had these conversations with my mother²." When Llamas noted that El-Sayed has gone after the president over truthfulness, El-Sayed asked, "Are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?" He answered, "And I'm telling you I was not¹."

His campaign has said the accusations have been "debunked as racist and untrue⁴." That answer does not address why his sister wrote what she wrote, or what Llamas asked.

The Free Beacon called the exchange “heated,” and RedState called it “an act of journalism.” Houck and Dreher drew the same lesson that conservatives noticed: a network anchor pressed a Democrat past his first answer.

That presentation situated the exchange within broader coverage of the Senate contest rather than making it the segment’s sole subject. Breitbart, by contrast, foregrounded El-Sayed’s response in a headline built around his words: “You're Using Hearsay Evidence”, “We Have No Ties”, and “I Didn't Talk to My Mom About That.”⁹ The headlines show the difference in emphasis: NBC framed the interview as part of campaign coverage, while Breitbart made the candidate’s answer its focus⁸.

Voters deserve direct answers

Llamas pressed El-Sayed about his sister’s posts; El-Sayed denied the reported family ties and dismissed the posts as hearsay.

Sources

1. Holy Smokes: Things Get Super Uncomfortable When NBC Confronts El-Sayed on Muslim Brotherhood Ties – RedState
2. 'Hearsay': Abdul El-Sayed Dismisses Sister's Claims About Family's Muslim Brotherhood Activism
3. El-Sayed Denies Muslim Brotherhood Ties, Sister Contradicts Him
4. Abdul El-Sayed's alleged family ties to Muslim Brotherhood surface after denying any link during NBC interview
5. Abdul El-Sayed edges Mike Rogers in tight Michigan Senate race poll
6. NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas visits Detroit as Michigan Senate race draws national attention
7. Mitchell poll shows Abdul El-Sayed leading Mike Rogers in Michigan's U.S. Senate race
8. Inside Michigan’s critical midterm Senate battle
9. El-Sayed on Half-Sister's Muslim Brotherhood Tweets: 'You're Using Hearsay Evidence', 'We Have No Ties', I Didn't Talk to My Mom About That, 'Not Serious'