Abdul El-Sayed Campaigns With Louis Farrakhan’s Antisemitic ‘Student Minister’ Who Recently Pushed Conspiracy Theory That Jews Ran the Slave Trade

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed continues to double down on his public associations with antisemites, campaigning Thursday alongside a Nation of Islam "student minister" and acolyte of the antisemitic group's longtime leader, Louis Farrakhan, who has referred to Jews as "termites" and praised Adolf Hitler.

The left-wing Democrat appeared with Marcus Muhammad at a get-out-the-vote rally in Benton Harbor, where Muhammad serves as mayor. "Allow me to introduce the next United States Senator representing the State of Michigan," Muhammad wrote in a caption of a photo with a much shorter El-Sayed.

Muhammad, despite his mayoral responsibilities, has not shied away from promoting Farrakhan's virulently antisemitic conspiracy theories. He recently promoted a video of Farrakhan discussing The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews Vol. 2, a pseudoscientific Nation of Islam work that claims Jews controlled the transatlantic slave trade.

It comes as El-Sayed faces mounting criticism from moderate and Jewish Democrats in the closing days of the pivotal Senate race over his anti-Israel remarks and what former Michigan Democratic Party chairman Lon Johnson recently called "his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric" against Jews.

Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary in August, issued a remarkable statement on Friday saying she had accepted an invitation from her mentor, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.), to appear alongside El-Sayed given his "expected condemnation" of an antisemitic ad produced on his behalf by Cenk Uygur, Hasan Piker's uncle, that blamed Jews for rising grocery prices. But she assailed El-Sayed for his response to the ad thus far and suggested that she is conditioning her appearance at the Sunday event on his public disavowal of the ad.

"For days, Abdul's only answer to the Rebellion PAC advertisement produced by Hasan Piker's uncle, Cenk Uygur, was that his campaign was 'not affiliated' with it. ... I have learned from Democratic Party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media, that Dr. El-Sayed has heard the deep concerns of the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in his campaign, formally condemning that ad for what it is."

Muhammad is an influential figure in the Nation of Islam and a staunch defender of Farrakhan, who has hailed Adolf Hitler as a "great man" and compared Jews to "termites."

Muhammad, who rose through the Nation of Islam's ranks in Chicago, has repeatedly amplified the Nation's and Farrakhan's antisemitic rantings, the Washington Free Beacon reported. In addition to promoting the conspiracy video about Jews controlling the slave trade, Muhammad has also promoted a 2023 Farrakhan speech in which Farrakhan rationalized Hitler's actions in Nazi Germany, stating that "Hitler went against usury and Hitler attacked pornography that the Jews had put on the Germans."

Muhammad has invoked antisemitic conspiracy theories of his own.

In an interview with Nation of Islam members in May, Muhammad referred repeatedly to "the enemy"—a term the Nation of Islam often uses to refer to Jews—while discussing The Israel Lobby, a book that alleges Jews malignantly shape American foreign policy. "They have the muscle, they have the money, they have power, they have influence," said Muhammad.

In 2020, Muhammad defended Farrakhan with a photo stating that, "Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him."

In 2021, Muhammad wrote of "the ongoing Jewish and Gentile Kristallnacht against Black Muslim businesses," invoking the Holocaust-era Nazi pogrom against Jews. Muhammad has called the Nation of Islam's "Muslim Program," an influential treatise that calls for racial segregation and states that "intermarriage or race mixing should be prohibited," the "ultimate solution" to America's "race problem."

Farrakhan has had significant influence on Muhammad's political career and his views towards Israel. Muhammad has stated that Farrakhan pushed him to run for political office, and told him during a meeting that "I'm your cornerman." In 2019, Muhammad said Farrakhan advised him to reject an invitation to visit Israel as part of a "peace mission" due to "the great dangers and hatred that exist." He wrote that he declined the visit because of Israel's "vitriolic disposition toward Muslims."

Muhammad's rhetoric and ties to the Nation of Islam have also drawn scrutiny from organizations that combat antisemitism.

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), a coalition of 700 groups that fight antisemitism, removed Muhammad from its mayoral advisory board earlier this year following a Free Beacon report about his remarks about Israel and Jews and his affiliation with the Nation of Islam.

"CAM was recently made aware of positions and affiliations held by Mayor Muhammad that are inconsistent with CAM's mission. As a result, CAM decided he will no longer serve on the board, and he was notified accordingly," a spokesperson said, citing the Nation's "notorious record of antisemitism."

CAM also called out El-Sayed for stoking vitriol against Jews.

"The conspiratorial rhetoric espoused by Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has placed a target on the backs of Jews across Michigan and beyond," the CAM spokesman said.

Other Nation of Islam leaders have rallied behind El-Sayed in the closing days of the campaign, though the Nation of Islam as a whole has not issued an endorsement in the race.

Troy X. Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam's mosque in Detroit, attended an event in Dearborn on Thursday hosted by the Unity & Justice Fund, a PAC linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, that is backing El-Sayed.

Troy Muhammad, who appeared with El-Sayed at an event last year, has threatened Jews for criticizing Farrakhan.

"Those like the Jews who, like Goliath, they think that they're big, but Farrakhan will bring them down," he said in a 2018 video recording unearthed by the Free Beacon.

He also issued thinly veiled threats against Jewish groups who had criticized Farrakhan.

"Behind me is [sic] soldiers you see and some that you don't see. And you might not see it until it's too late, if you keep playing with the minister," said Troy Muhammad, surrounded by dozens of Nation of Islam members. "So all of you who represent Satan, the ADL, and all your Negro imps … get off the track before you get ran over by a train."

El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

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