Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers said Sunday on CNN that Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has long supported the Muslim Brotherhood. Rogers said the issue is ideology, not El-Sayed's faith.
Five Muslim countries ban the Muslim Brotherhood, Rogers said.
Trump called El-Sayed a jihadist; Rogers said he has never called him a terrorist.
Rogers said El-Sayed receives money from CAIR, which Rogers says backs the Brotherhood.
El-Sayed says he has no ties to the group.
Why it matters: The race now turns partly on whether El-Sayed's family history and faith are fair campaign issues. The Trump administration designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group earlier this year.
El-Sayed's half-sister posted that his biological mother was active in the group in the 1970s.
El-Sayed said he was not raised by her and called the claim hearsay.
El-Sayed Refuses to Disavow Muslim BrotherhoodYou are hereLatest
How 7 sources split on this story
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7 sources · 7 articles · 57% Right coverage
Where they split: Outlets disagree on whether El-Sayed disavowed the Brotherhood at the town hall and whether the questioner was an ordinary voter or a planted Republican operative.
Center coverage, 1 sources: The center focuses on the CNN interview, where Bash pressed Rogers on Trump's rhetoric and what El-Sayed actually said.
Left coverage, 2 sources: The left sees a staged confrontation, with a Republican-connected questioner using what Raw Story calls a dual-loyalty trope against a Muslim candidate.