Abdul El-Sayed: A Digital Campaign Targets the Democratic Michigan Senate Candidate

From accusations of supporting “terrorism” to calls for his deportation from the country where he was born, Egyptian American physician Abdul El-Sayed faced escalating waves of online attacks throughout his Democratic primary race against Haley Stevens for the party’s nomination to Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat.

The campaign failed to achieve its objectives, however. On Aug. 4, El-Sayed won the primary by a margin of less than one percentage point, setting up a November race against Republican Mike Rogers that could make him the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate in American history.

Spending against El-Sayed reached approximately $65 million, with AIPAC and its political arm, the United Democracy Project, pouring about half that amount into supporting Stevens and seeking to defeat her rival.

Misbar analyzed more than 613,000 posts and found that approximately 228,000 were part of a targeted digital campaign against El-Sayed. The campaign sought to weaponize his Muslim identity and his position on Israel to portray him as aligned with Hamas and “jihad” and as hostile to the United States.

Who drove these narratives, and how did they spread from right-wing and pro-Israel accounts into a wave involving more than 116,000 accounts?

Engagement Patterns

The engagement curve shows that the latest wave against El-Sayed was not the first. It was preceded by more intensive waves targeting the Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, seeking to damage his image and undermine his electoral prospects while promoting his rival, Haley Stevens.

The monitoring covered approximately 613,000 posts shared by nearly 254,000 accounts. The analysis found that 37% of the posts, or more than 228,000, contained attacks against El-Sayed. These posts were shared by about 45% of all participating accounts, exceeding 116,000 accounts.

Usernames, profile descriptions and symbols revealed a significant presence of accounts presenting themselves as American conservatives or supporters of Israel. Their profiles frequently featured U.S. and Israeli flags, along with slogans associated with the pro-Donald Trump right, such as “MAGA” and “Proud American,” as well as religious symbols.

The locations listed by users in their profiles indicate that the overwhelming majority of the accounts were based in the United States. This activity coincided with record spending by groups affiliated with AIPAC to support Haley Stevens and attack El-Sayed, revealing an overlap between the digital campaign and a broader battle over political spending and influence, without the locations listed by the accounts alone establishing direct coordination among them.

Attack Narratives

A map of the most-engaged words shows the dominance of terms associated with the electoral context, particularly “Michigan,” “Senate,” “candidate,” and “vote.” Within this discussion, an attack narrative focused on El-Sayed’s religious identity emerged, repeatedly describing him as “Muslim” and linking him to “terrorism” and “terrorist organizations,” while accusing him of being a “pro-Hamas candidate” and using inflammatory expressions such as “linguistic jihad” and “Islamic invasion.”

The campaign also extended to calls for his deportation through the phrase “Deport Abdul El-Sayed,” portraying him as a radical socialist and anti-American. These terms reflect an attempt to shift the competition away from El-Sayed’s positions and political platform toward questioning his national belonging and portraying his Muslim identity as a security and political threat.

Influential Accounts and Amplification Pathways

Engagement analysis showed that a number of American right-wing and pro-Israel accounts played a prominent role in producing and disseminating attack narratives targeting Abdul El-Sayed. Their roles varied from launching accusations and selectively clipping excerpts from El-Sayed’s interviews to amplifying the content through repeated reposts and comments.

American Right-Wing Accounts

Eric Daugherty: A right-wing media account whose activity focuses on attacking liberal and left-wing movements. He described El-Sayed’s candidacy as part of an “Islamic invasion” while promoting his rival Haley Stevens, who is backed by pro-Israel lobbying groups.

Jake Lang: A far-right activist and participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He remained detained for nearly four years awaiting trial before being released following the pardon issued by President Donald Trump to defendants in the case. Monitoring showed his repeated presence at El-Sayed and Democratic Party events, after which he posted footage from them accompanied by anti-Muslim rhetoric and accusations linking the candidate to extremism. He also used this rhetoric in waves of attacks that began months before the vote.

Gunther Eagleman: An American conservative influencer and political commentator who followed El-Sayed’s appearances and reposted excerpts from them in contexts aimed at damaging his image and portraying him as a radical leftist and close to Hamas.

Pro-Israel Accounts and Organizations

Eyal Yakoby: A pro-Israel activist who emerged among the accounts participating in the digital campaign. He shared content linking El-Sayed to extremism and terrorism, relying primarily on his positions on Israel and U.S. military aid to the country.

Mossad Commentary: A pro-Israel account using the name of the Mossad, without providing evidence of any official connection to the agency. It attacked El-Sayed and portrayed his candidacy as part of an Islamic campaign seeking to take control of the United States. It also accused him of antisemitism over his position calling for an end to U.S. military support for Israel.

StopAntisemitism: A U.S.-based pro-Israel organization that participated in attacking El-Sayed and accusing him of antisemitism. It also promoted fundraising for AIPAC and support for Haley Stevens against her rival.

Accounts Suspected of Amplification Activity

The analysis identified a group of accounts that shared behavioral characteristics raising questions about whether they were being used to amplify attacks against El-Sayed. These characteristics included unclear ownership identities, recently created accounts, relatively small follower counts, and unusually high volumes of posting and recirculation of attack messages.

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