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ABDUL EL-SAYED CAMPAIGN
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed speaks to his supporters |
AN ATTEMPT in Michigan by a Republican candidate for governor to tie his Democratic opponent to the Muslim Brotherhood is drawing outrage, reports Click on Detroit.
State Sen. Patrick Colbeck is accusing Dr. Abdul El-Sayed of belonging to the Muslim Student Association during his years at the University of Michigan. The student group is a sanctioned club on campus, and according to El-Sayed, has no ties to terrorism.
According to Buzzfeed, state and local Republican candidates have attacked Islam in 49 states since 2015. The article accused Colbeck of pushing “false conspiracy theories.”
“Of course, I knew that in choosing to run for governor as an unapologetic, proud Muslim and American, I was going to contend with the ugly face of White supremacy that Donald Trump and his friends have sanctioned,” El-Sayed said. “But I know that every day I serve this state and this country, beholding us to our ideals and our constitution, which empower and inspire me to serve every single person in our state, regardless of my ethnicity, color or faith.”
Colbeck denied the allegations saying he is merely raising concerns specific to El-Sayed and not all Muslim/Americans.
Sarah Anderson, spokeswoman for the Michigan Republican Party, said Colbeck’s pronouncements have no place in the GOP.
“The party isn’t interested in peddling any conspiracy theories and anything he said was not on behalf of the party,” she told the Detroit Free Press. “We categorically condemn any sort of hate speech, regardless of the source.”
“Of course, I knew that in choosing to run for governor as an unapologetic, proud Muslim and American, I was going to contend with the ugly face of White supremacy that Donald Trump and his friends have sanctioned,” El-Sayed said. “But I know that every day I serve this state and this country, beholding us to our ideals and our constitution, which empower and inspire me to serve every single person in our state, regardless of my ethnicity, color or faith.”
Colbeck denied the allegations saying he is merely raising concerns specific to El-Sayed and not all Muslim/Americans.
El-Sayed was born and raised in Michigan. His parents immigrated from Egypt. He is considered the most serious challenger to Democratic frontrunner Gretchen Whitmer. His politics lean towards the so-called "progressive" wing of the party, which explains why Bernie Sanders supporters have flocked to his campaign.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, he went on as a Rhoades scholar and got his doctorate from Oxford University. He earned his medical degree at Columbia University.
He returned to Michigan to head up Detroit's Health Department after it was decimated and demoralized by privatization in the previous administration. Uunder his leadership, the Detroit Health Department has become a state and national leader in public health innovation and environmental justice, in one of the fastest municipal public health turnarounds in American history.
He is one of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The primary election is Aug. 7. The winner of that contest will represent the party in the November elections against some independents and the Republican nominee. Besides Colbeck, there are three other Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for governor.
Colbeck isn't subtle with his bigotry. according to a report from Buzzfeed, in almost every speech Colby says in nearly every speech that people tell him that El-Sayed is probably “a little too young, a little too brown and a little too Muslim” to be a viable candidate for governor.
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| PATRICK COLBECK |
“The party isn’t interested in peddling any conspiracy theories and anything he said was not on behalf of the party,” she told the Detroit Free Press. “We categorically condemn any sort of hate speech, regardless of the source.”
Muslims make up only about 2.75 percent of Michigan's population. However, their small size doesn't match the huge impact they have on the state. According to a report by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, more than 15 percent of Michigan's medical doctors are Muslim, as are more than 10 percent of all pharmacists, more than 7 percent of all dentists, 6.9 percent of podiatrists, and 6.1 percent of osteopaths. These Muslim medical professionals provide 1.6 million appointments to patients per year and indirectly support 39,987 jobs.
In fact, the city of Hamtramck, surrounded by the city of Detroit, received international attention in 2016 when it elected a majority-Muslim city council. The city also became the first to have a majority-Muslim population in 2013),
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report)
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