Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Faces Scrutiny Over Past Statements, Claims

Politics28 sourcesAug 14, 2026

Leans rightFactual rigor 50/100

The Story

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Democratic Party primary, faces scrutiny over past statements and claims.

Snopes rated as false the online claims that El-Sayed ran a dog slaughterhouse and oversaw the euthanasia of 74% of shelter dogs while leading Detroit’s health department. El-Sayed was appointed executive director of the Detroit Health Department in August 2015, and his department took over animal control in late 2015. The accusations about poor treatment of dogs at the shelter surfaced before his appointment, with El-Sayed inheriting the problems.

President Donald Trump suggested calling political opponents jihadists, specifically mentioning Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and posted a side-by-side photo of himself and Melania Trump next to El-Sayed and his wife, Dr. Sarah Jukaku, on Truth Social. Republicans plan to make El-Sayed a focal point of their upcoming midterm convention in Dallas, collecting video for attack reels.

Trump has attacked El-Sayed over his Muslim faith, accusing Democrats of nominating jihadists. El-Sayed drew Republican rebukes after invoking Jesus Christ to question GOP opponent Mike Rogers' Christian faith. Unearthed social media videos, later privatized, show El-Sayed arguing against the Second Amendment and comparing bacon to plutonium, calling it a class 1 carcinogen. In a 2018 documentary, El-Sayed told a film crew to hide his Qurans to keep the shot secular, which conflicts with a 2009 New York Times interview where he discussed seeking a Sharia-compliant mortgage.

He also expressed dislike for Mackinac Island and deleted a 2019 Thanksgiving post advocating for "Reparations." Rep. Haley Stevens, defeated by El-Sayed, endorsed him but questioned his campaigning with Hasan Piker.

What they agree on

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Party primary election.
Claims that El-Sayed ran a "dog slaughterhouse" and oversaw mass euthanasia of dogs in Detroit were rated false by Snopes.
President Donald Trump has publicly attacked El-Sayed, using terms like "jihadists" and questioning his Muslim faith.
Republicans are collecting video of El-Sayed for use in attack reels at their upcoming midterm convention.
El-Sayed has faced scrutiny over resurfaced videos and social media posts regarding the Second Amendment, bacon, Mackinac Island, and Thanksgiving.

Where they split

Snopes focuses on fact-checking and debunking the specific claim about El-Sayed running a "dog slaughterhouse" and overseeing euthanasia.
Newsweek emphasizes El-Sayed's success in the primary as riding "anti-AIPAC fervor" and uses it to argue against the "popular mythology of AIPAC as juggernaut."
The Daily Wire frames El-Sayed as embodying a "red-green alliance" of communists and Islamists, aiming to "hollow out the liberal order," and highlights his comments on public control of AI companies.
Fox News and The Hill provide more detailed accounts of specific controversial statements made by El-Sayed, such as invoking Jesus to question an opponent's faith or arguing against the Second Amendment.