Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed is the most extreme candidate in the midterms based on “sheer jihadist credentials,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told Breitbart News on Thursday.
Moreno was asked about the most radical candidates running in the 2026 elections during a Breitbart News Fight Club Roundtable hosted by Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.
“Who do you think is the most extreme socialist candidate running in these 2026 midterms?” a participant named Barry M. asked.
“Well, that’s like who’s the tallest midget? Because man, oh, man. That’s a tough one. I’d have to say just on sheer jihadist credentials, it would have to be Abdul El-Sayed,” Moreno replied.
“This guy’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He goes on Fox News, and he deflects every question: ‘Did I want America to suffer during 9/11? Well, people can’t afford groceries.’ That isn’t the question that you were just asked. This guy is the most dangerous one,” the senator continued.
Moreno went on to say El-Sayed is like “a Mamdani situation,” referring to Muslim socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, because “these guys are good communicators — they’re slick.”
“You know, I came for the car business. I grew up in the car business. I remember the car business in the 80s and 90s, and the guys you gotta watch out for are the slick ones,” he added.
El-Sayed, who is running against Republican Mike Rogers, has claimed he is “not a socialist,” although he is running on a platform backed by socialist lawmakers Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). He has also campaigned with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who claimed America “deserved 9/11.”
A Senate counterterrorism expert warned in August at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Muslim Brotherhood threats in the U.S. that El-Sayed’s candidacy “raises homeland security concerns because of family ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and connections to a Midwest voter-engagement organization the expert said is tied to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),” Fox News reported.