At a Senate campaign event in Caro, Michigan, on October 18, 2026, Abdul El-Sayed was asked whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood; he said he would, then challenged the premise. Reporting has since identified the questioner as a former Josh Hawley staffer posing as a voter, tied through family to Bobby Jindal. The discussion now turns on whether the denouncement came too late in the answer, on a town hall heckling where Vance called El-Sayed a little weasel, and on letters he signed years ago telling the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to purge the media. El-Sayed told Bret Baier he has never been and never will be a member.