Michigan GOP Gov. Rick Snyder has done tremendous damage to the state in eight years, and Democrats are trying to win the state back, but in the Trump Era, anything goes. Ahead of an open primary season for both parties with voters going to the polls in August, right-wing Republicans are already attacking Democrats as terrorists in a state with a growing Muslim population.
The Michigan gubernatorial race took an ugly turn last week, when a Republican contender accused a Democratic candidate of being part of a “civilizational jihad” to take over America.
The Republican, state Sen. Patrick Colbeck, stands by his accusation that former Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Just one of Colbeck’s Republican rivals condemned the remarks; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a Colbeck backer, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
What El-Sayed is going through happens to nearly every Muslim-American in public life: They face baseless questions about their patriotism and then are left in a no-win situation. If they deny the charges, they risk giving them credence. But if they ignore them, they might get even more traction.
“We have to spend the bulk of our time disproving negatives: ‘Prove that you’re not a radical Islamist. Prove that you’re not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Prove that you’re not trying to implement Sharia,’” said Wajahat Ali, a Muslim-American writer and co-author of “Fear Inc.,” a 2011 study of networks of anti-Muslim bigotry.
It’s a phenomenon that Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim-American civil rights group, calls a “type of neo-McCarthyism.”
If elected, El-Sayed, a 33-year-old physician, would be the country’s first Muslim governor. And there is no evidence that he has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But thanks to Colbeck and the amplification he received on conservative talk radio, the allegations already show signs of staying power.
El-Sayed graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, where his classmates and teachers picked him to deliver the 2007 commencement speech. The remarks, peppered with inside-campus jokes, showcased an early flair for public speaking.
He was also vice president of the Muslim Students Association, which Colbeck believes shows El-Sayed has sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood. Of course, just because they both have the word “Muslim” in them doesn’t mean they’re the same.
Unfortunately, that distinction doesn't matter to as many Michiganders as it should. Rampant Islamophobia in the GOP in the Trump era is no surprise, it's what they want to push, the racism and hatred cards.
Both Colbeck and El-Sayed are long shots, the frontrunners are the state's current GOP Attorney General Bill Schuette, and the former Democratic state Senate minority leader, Gretchen Whitmer.
Both of them have significant competition however, Schuette from Snyder's Lt. Governor, Brian Calley, and Whitmer from pharmaceutical entrepreneur Shri Thanedar. Where this all goes, we'll see, but with redistricting on the line in 2020, Democrats need as many 2018 gubernatorial victories as they can get.
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