An Al Jazeera investigation has mapped what it describes as a coordinated anti-Muslim online campaign against Abdul El-Sayed following his victory in the Michigan Democratic primary for a US Senate seat, identifying 1,966 accounts and more than 2,500 connections active in the first 24 hours after the result.
Anti-Muslim campaign targeting Michigan Senate primary winner El-Sayed mapped by Al Jazeera investigation
An Al Jazeera investigation has mapped what it describes as a coordinated anti-Muslim online campaign against Abdul El-Sayed following his victory in the Michigan Democratic primary for a US Senate seat, identifying 1,966 accounts and more than 2,500 connections active in the first 24 hours after the result.
The investigation found the campaign began with accounts clipping the Arabic phrase 'inshallah', meaning 'God willing', from El-Sayed's election night speech. In context, El-Sayed used the expression to say he hoped his win would show that money alone does not decide elections. The investigation concluded the phrase was stripped of that context and presented as evidence of a political and religious threat.
Right-wing influencer Benny Johnson posted a clip captioned 'Muslim Socialist Candidate for Senate in Michigan Abdul El-Sayed says inshallah during his speech on election night', which gathered more than 193,000 views. An account named ALX framed the speech in a post that drew more than 80,000 views. Far-right figure Laura Loomer described the clip as 'disgusting'. Before final primary results were in, one account claimed an 'Islamic communist takeover of the left is coming'.
Al Jazeera's Open Source Unit network analysis recorded 1,847 reposts, 1,157 quotes and 1,536 mentions in the first 24 hours. The analysis found the spread relied heavily on reshares rather than direct discussion, and was centralised around a small number of key influencers whose narratives were then amplified by secondary accounts.
An account called End Wokeness shared a clip of El-Sayed saying 'When they go low, we don't go high. We take them to the mud and choke them out.' According to the investigation, that quote came from an August 2025 event at which El-Sayed was subverting former first lady Michelle Obama's phrase to critique attacks from President Donald Trump's MAGA base. The rhetoric later escalated to claims that 'Sharia is coming to America' and that Michigan was being 'invaded'. The city of Hamtramck, where 25 percent of its 28,000 residents are Arab Muslims, was described by some accounts as an 'occupied city'.
Political figures and pro-Israel organisations also participated in the online debate. A Fox News report alleged El-Sayed received donations from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US Muslim civil rights group that has been a target of right-wing politicians. Republican Senator Ted Cruz shared a clip of a congressional hearing in which a witness alleged ties between El-Sayed and Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups, urging voters to find out 'who is behind him'. The American Jewish Committee described his candidacy as a worrying sign of divisive rhetoric. Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad called him 'dangerous'. Hananya Naftali, a YouTuber and former digital aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called on Americans to defend 'Judeo-Christian values before it is too late'.
Trump attacked candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, calling them 'crazy' and saying they would make cities 'filthy and disgusting'. After official primary results were released, Trump targeted El-Sayed directly, calling him a 'hater of Jews' and 'hater of Israel' who will bring 'filth, crime, death, destruction, embarrassment'. The investigation described Trump's statement as merging far-right narratives into a unified Republican attack aimed at rallying voters behind El-Sayed's Republican general-election opponent, Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed addressed accusations of anti-Semitism, saying his concern for the safety of Jewish Americans is no different from his concern for his own daughters. A Fox News clip of that statement garnered more than one million views. El-Sayed has focused his public messaging on equal access to education, healthcare and jobs for all Americans regardless of origin, skin colour or religion.
Senator Bernie Sanders congratulated El-Sayed for taking on the 'billionaire class'. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin and Senator Elizabeth Warren praised his dedication to working families and his willingness to tackle corporate influence in politics. Liberal commentator Brian Krassenstein predicted El-Sayed will remain a repeated target of the MAGA movement, facing smears of being a 'terrorist' and 'communist' in the months ahead.
- El-Sayed did not comment on the Fox News report alleging CAIR donations; his response to that specific claim is not established.
- CAIR's response to being cited in connection with El-Sayed's campaign is not included.
- The total vote margin or share by which El-Sayed won the primary is not stated.
- The methodology used by Al Jazeera's Open Source Unit to identify and classify accounts as part of the network is not detailed.
- Whether any of the 1,966 accounts identified were bot or automated accounts, as distinct from human-operated ones, is not established.
- Mike Rogers's response to Trump's endorsement or to the campaign against El-Sayed is not included.
- The date of the Michigan primary is not specified.
- AIPAC's direct response to El-Sayed's primary win is not included beyond a characterisation of the result as a setback for pro-Israel lobbying groups.
Read the original at Al Jazeera English