From Slate Magazine · Aymann Ismail · · 4m
Muslim candidate navigates 9/11 anniversary politics
Abdul El-Sayed's Senate campaign faces weaponized scrutiny of his faith on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
In brief
Abdul El-Sayed's Senate campaign faces weaponized scrutiny of his faith on the 25th anniversary of the attacks. A Muslim political candidate cannot freely discuss post-9/11 consequences the way others can, because his words become campaign ammunition. Originally reported by Slate Magazine.
A quiet moment at the memorial
Abdul El-Sayed arrived at a 9/11 memorial in Lansing, Michigan, standing near steel from the World Trade Center as a chaplain read the names of victims.
The ritual he had to perform
El-Sayed's campaign released a video that morning condemning 9/11. For most politicians this would be routine, but his religion made the ritual politically fraught.
“Nothing can justify the murder of innocent civilians. Nothing.”
Two different 9/11 memories
The author was 11 at an Islamic school in New Jersey. While others remember unity after the attacks, she remembers her school shutting down, FBI raids, and her brother ending up on a no-fly list.
Religion weaponized in the race
Since winning the Democratic primary, El-Sayed has faced attacks on his faith. Trump called him a jihadist, and his opponent Mike Rogers has repeatedly used a clip of a former campaign partner saying America deserved 9/11.
The super PAC attack ad
A pro-Rogers super PAC ran an ad with burning towers, the controversial quote, and El-Sayed campaigning, claiming he gave comfort to the hatred behind 9/11.
What he was thinking
When asked what he felt at the memorial, El-Sayed spoke of pain and sadness but quickly pivoted to his campaign message about unity and building something greater than the sum of its parts.
His old tweets resurface
Five years ago, El-Sayed tweeted that there was space to mourn both 9/11 victims and lives lost in the wars that followed. Those tweets have now become campaign ammunition.
When he got forceful
El-Sayed pushed back on the weaponization, saying small men were using the attacks to divide people. He was a high school junior when it happened, and his name and face were being used to divide.
“The idea that simply because of my face or my name, you think you can use those things to divide us, it rhymes with the exact logic of the people who attacked us that day.”
A veteran's perspective
After the service, a man wearing an Iraq War veteran's cap told the author that El-Sayed's presence elevates his experience and that anti-war candidates are needed.
A Republican's measured response
Rep. Tom Barrett said anyone paying respect on 9/11 deserves appreciation, and hoped the day would not become about politics despite disagreements.
Another Muslim politician faces backlash
Around the same time, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's brief greeting at ground zero sparked days of online outrage accusing them of celebrating 9/11.
The town hall packed with students
Hours later at Michigan State University, El-Sayed held a Students vs. Billionaires town hall with hundreds of students, most born after 9/11, asking about health care, rural hospitals, and housing.
He called out the press
El-Sayed pointed to reporters and said they kept asking him about Hasan Piker while students wanted to discuss health care. He asked them to stop asking about a streamer in California.
“You know what I always get asked? Hasan Piker. All you in the press! You hear? These folks are talking about health care. Stop asking me about a streamer in California.”
Press questions ignored policy
When reporters gathered after the town hall, none asked about health care or policy. Instead they asked about a man who said El-Sayed should be shot at the Republican convention.
What they're really attacking
El-Sayed told the author that opponents are attacking the idea of America as a place where all people can build together, not him personally.
“The thing that they're attacking isn't really me. If America is a place where any and all of us can build together something greater than the sum of its parts, that's the thing that they're attacking.”
Running into the fire
El-Sayed framed his candidacy as running into the fire to address rising Islamophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia by proving all people have a stake in America.
“I think about rising Islamophobia and rising antisemitism and, frankly, just rising attitudes of hate and xenophobia like a fire. And I hope that I will always be the kind of person who runs into the fire to try and do something about it.”
Judged on merits, not identity
El-Sayed said he wanted to be judged as a public servant without an asterisk about his name or faith, then pivoted back to discussing health care, rent, and schools.
“I'm asking to be judged on my merits as a public servant, without an asterisk about what my name is or what my faith is.”
Not making himself the story
El-Sayed said his job is not to make himself the main character but to center the people he serves, explaining his reluctance to foreground his own experience.
“My job is not to make myself or my own experience the main character. My job is to always be centering folks in the work.”
The asymmetry of speech
A Muslim Senate nominee cannot freely discuss post-9/11 consequences the way others can. His words become television ads with burning towers, not just comments section arguments.
The bet being made
Republicans are betting millions that voters will only see El-Sayed's religion. He is betting that enough people will tune it out as noise and judge him on his policy platform.
The key point
A Muslim political candidate cannot freely discuss post-9/11 consequences the way others can, because his words become campaign ammunition.
