Abdul El-Sayed Cuts Ties With Stepmother To Ignore Terror Mom
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told reporters he was not raised by his birth mother, Fatten Elkomy, despite her past work with a designated terrorist group. The New York Post reported that Elkomy worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, an organization now flagged as a terror group. El-Sayed insists this fact does not matter to his campaign for the US Senate.
El-Sayed has built his public image around his white stepmother, Jacqueline Johnson, to appeal to voters. The campaign heavily promoted videos featuring Johnson and El-Sayed's step-grandparents for fundraising. New York Post reporting noted that El-Sayed described his birth mother as "loving" and "devoted" in his 2020 book. He also praised her "uncompromising... way of doing things" in that same text.
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed tells @MikeTobinFox that his sister-in-law was on a federal terror watchlist years ago, saying she sued and was subsequently removed.
EL-SAYED: "She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off. So the idea that you can be placed on something like that, because of exactly the infrastructure that Mike Rogers and his Flock camera and his Patriot Act and his surveillance state can do is exactly the point. So she sued. And what happened afterwards? You know what happened, right? She was removed... You've got this system where folks are guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like Mike Rogers set up..."
— Patrick McGovern (@PMcGovernTV) October 18, 2026
El-Sayed confirmed on Saturday that his sister-in-law, Mariam Jukaku, appeared on the federal terrorist watch list. Daily Wire reporting stated that El-Sayed told Fox News the list included her name while Barack Obama was president. El-Sayed responded with a simple "Yeah" when pressed on the issue by reporter Mike Tobin.
El-Sayed claimed Jukaku "sued and got off" the list, but the legal record tells a different story. Breitbart reported that a federal appeals court overturned the ruling that favored Jukaku in 2021. In 2017, a distinct legal action pursuing compensation was thrown out. El-Sayed said, "She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off," despite the court's later actions.
Fatten Elkomy was an activist with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the 1970s. A social media post from her daughter, Eman Abdelhadi, confirmed this past involvement. New York Post reporting noted that Elkomy attended El-Sayed's graduation from Columbia Medical School in 2014. He was only three years old when his parents separated, yet she stayed closely involved in his adult life.
El-Sayed argues that the watch list system is flawed and targets people unfairly. According to reports, he stated that the system presumes guilt for those with certain names until innocence is proven. This comment came after he acknowledged the list included his family members. The candidate continues to run on a platform that separates his public persona from his biological roots.