CAIRO, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Prominent Egyptians hailed the election of Abdul El-Sayed as the first Muslim member of the US Senate on Wednesday, though state media paid little notice to the rise of a liberal American who has called his parents’ native country a military dictatorship.
El-Sayed, born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, has often spoken fondly about his heritage, praised Egyptian food and humour, and warmly recalled summers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, where his father grew up.
But he has also irked some Egyptians with remarks about the country, including once saying that but for the accident of history that brought his parents to Detroit he would have ended up as a taxi driver in Egypt like his cousins.
In a campaign interview this year he described Egypt as living under “a military dictatorship funded by our tax dollars here”.
His victory was nevertheless hailed by prominent Egyptian public figures, many noting that he was able to succeed despite being a fierce opponent of President Donald Trump.
“Say what you like about America, but you have to tip your hat to a political system that allows Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed to become a US senator,” Amr Adib, a popular television host, wrote on X, using El-Sayed’s full name for emphasis.
“There was even an Egyptian ululation during his victory speech.”
Another well-known TV presenter, Yasmine El-Khateib, wrote that El-Sayed’s win “confirms that America, for all its faults, is a great country, where the will of the people can prevail despite religious and ethnic differences, and even against the wishes of the president himself.”
One widely shared clip posted by a popular Egyptian humour account showed El-Sayed’s face superimposed on comedy character Mr Bean, dancing in front of a downcast Trump.
Alaa Mubarak, son of former President Hosni Mubarak, shared a clip of El-Sayed’s victory speech in which he jokingly addressed Vice President JD Vance as “habibi”, an Arabic term of endearment.
But state media, known in the past for lavishly covering the achievements of Americans of Egyptian heritage such as Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek, gave little attention to a politician who has been critical of the Cairo government.
Pro-government commentator Loay El-Khateeb dismissed El-Sayed’s Egyptian origins as “history that he moved beyond a long time ago.”
“It would be completely unwise to build any kind of expectations on that basis,” El-Khateeb wrote on Facebook. “Nor would it be wise to regard his election victory as an Egyptian or Arab achievement in any way.”
(Reporting by Cairo bureauWriting by Alexander DziadoszEditing by Peter Graff)
