WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Abdul El-Sayed has prominently featured his stepmother and step grandparents while keeping biological mother Fatten Elkomy largely absent from his Senate campaign.
  • Federal documents named Elkomy in connection with eight wire transfers while she worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency.
  • El-Sayed has praised Elkomy in his book, attended family events with her, and called her on Mother’s Day.
  • President Trump called El-Sayed “100% Muslim Brotherhood,” while El-Sayed denied having any ties and accused critics of Islamophobia.

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has built a carefully curated campaign story around his white stepmother and step-grandparents while keeping his biological mother largely out of public view. Yet his own statements and family history show that he remains close to her.

His biological mother, Fatten Elkomy, 66, is a psychiatric nurse at New Horizons Community Support Services in Columbia, Missouri. According to 2010 federal court documents, she previously worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, which was designated a terrorist organization by the Treasury Department in 2004.

Elkomy was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and worked for the organization from 1999 through at least 2004. The federal documents named her 14 times and described her participation in eight wire transfers to the Middle East.

El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, has also written about their mother’s history with the Muslim Brotherhood. In a 2012 post on X, Abdelhadi wrote, “Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect.”

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Abdelhadi separately wrote that “my family has long been MB.” The Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was designated a foreign terror group earlier this year by the State Department.

On the campaign trail, however, El-Sayed has heavily promoted his stepmother, Jacqueline Johnson, and his step-grandparents. They appeared in two campaign videos that were also used in fundraising appeals.

During an NBC Nightly News interview, El-Sayed sought to distance himself from questions about his biological mother. “I wasn’t raised by my mother,” he said.

El-Sayed was 3 when his parents separated, but Elkomy remained involved in his adult life. She attended his 2014 graduation from Columbia University’s Medical School, where she was photographed smiling alongside El-Sayed and Abdelhadi.

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In his 2020 book, “Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic,” El-Sayed described his biological mother as “loving” and “devoted.” That same year, he sent Abdelhadi money through Venmo for “Mama’s bday gift.”

El-Sayed also disclosed that he called Elkomy on Mother’s Day, though his social media post referred to her only by her first name and did not show her face. During the call, El-Sayed told her, “Enjoy the day, and we’ll see you soon, ok?” before adding, “Love you, Mama.”

Elkomy has made no public campaign appearances. At a September 2025 Lansing event promoting “Medicare for All,” El-Sayed mentioned that “my mother is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and my wife is a psychiatrist,” but did not identify his mother.

His step-grandparents received far more prominent campaign treatment. In a June video, stepgrandmother Judy Johnson declared, “Here!” when asked where El-Sayed came from, then added, “We’re his grandparents!” and praised him for buying their groceries every week.

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A July video featured his stepmother, who converted to Islam after marrying El-Sayed’s father. The two discussed empathy, immigration, and El-Sayed’s medical background before sharing an awkward hug.

 

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A post shared by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@abdulelsayed)

Critics have also challenged El-Sayed’s effort to reject the socialist label while receiving support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York congresswoman pledged $1 million to his campaign and appeared with him at three Michigan stops during the week.

RNC spokesman Hunter Lovell accused El-Sayed of concealing troubling family connections. “If El-Sayed can’t be honest about his family’s troubling ties to terrorism, how can Michiganders trust him to have their best interests at heart?” Lovell said.

El-Sayed also signed a 2012 open letter calling on the Muslim Brotherhood to “purge” the press and police after the group seized control of Egypt, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Kyle Shideler of the Center for Security Policy said El-Sayed’s organizational and family connections were consistent with close ties to the movement.

Shideler noted that El-Sayed and his wife, Sarah Jukaku, held senior positions in the University of Michigan Muslim Students Association chapter during their undergraduate studies. That chapter was identified in a Muslim Brotherhood strategy memo among “organizations and friends” in North America.

President Trump offered a blunter assessment during a White House Rose Garden lunch. “He’s a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100%,” Trump said, later adding, “The guy’s 100% Muslim Brotherhood. . . . He’s a fraud. He’s a con man.”

When NBC asked whether he had lied about family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, El-Sayed denied the claim and accused critics of Islamophobia. “I have no ties. We have no ties,” he said, while insisting he had never discussed the subject with his mother.

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Mariam Wahba, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that the Muslim Brotherhood operates through a broader network of sympathizers, political allies, and people who share its worldview without formal membership. El-Sayed’s campaign did not return The Post’s request for comment.

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