At the first Michigan Senate debate on October 8, Republican Mike Rogers told Democrat Abdul El-Sayed he was “bought off by Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda”. The campaign releases behind the charge name CAIR-linked donors and no money from those groups. Read Breitbart’s sentence for its subject. Mike Rogers made the charge; the headline makes Abdul El-Sayed its actor, and what he does is fail. Silence becomes the evidence, so the charge needs none. The story quotes no answer from El-Sayed and names no donation from Hamas, Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda. Its eighth paragraph rests “hundreds of thousands of dollars from terrorist organizations” on Breitbart’s own September report. The tell: when a headline’s verb is a denial that never happened, look for who made the claim. The trail is short. Rogers’s September 15 release counts nearly $130,000 from over 41 CAIR staff or board members. The NRSC’s October 7 release counts $115,000 from CAIR associates and over $315,000 in “Muslim Brotherhood-tied contributions”. Bridge Michigan called CAIR “a mainstream civil rights group that advocates for US Muslims” and found “no clear evidence” it supports the Muslim Brotherhood. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation case and never charged. Across the releases and headlines the words climb: “Leftist” names him, “linked” and “tied” assign a motive, “terrorist sympathizer” makes it his nature. Under the label are campaign donors, staff and board members of a group that advocates for Muslims, now filed under terror. El-Sayed called it “a bunch of scary words” set against gas and grocery prices. CBS and Fox headlined the same night as a clash and “personal attacks”; neither headline says terrorists.
