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An old clip of Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed is making the rounds this week, and conservatives are having a field day. In the footage, attributed online to a CAIR event, El‑Sayed points to a 16th‑century North African explorer and says “estimates suggest up to 50 percent” of enslaved people were Muslim — a line now being used to accuse him of rewriting American history for political gain. The resurfaced video is the latest campaign grenade in a tight 2026 Senate fight, so let’s cut through the spin.
What the clip actually says
The excerpt being shared shows El‑Sayed noting that “Muslims have been in this part of the country since 1527” and referring to Estevanico (also called Esteban or Mustafa Azemmouri), a North African who appears in Spanish expedition records. He goes on to say, “Estimates suggest up to 50 percent of people who were brought here against their will as slaves were Muslims … literally built this country.” Those are his words in the clip, and opponents have predictably seized on them. The remark is being presented as evidence that El‑Sayed wants to rewrite who “built” America — a claim worth examining, not simply amplifying.
The history — Estevanico is real, the leap is not
There is a historical kernel here worth noting: Estevanico was indeed a North African who traveled with early Spanish expeditions in the 1520s and 1530s and is often cited as an early recorded person of Muslim origin in Spanish accounts of the Americas. That fact supports the narrower point that people from Muslim regions reached parts of the Americas long before Anglo colonists arrived. But a 16th‑century traveler is a far cry from “building” the United States. Saying so strains logic and history — and makes for great campaign fodder when wrapped in a sound bite.
The 50 percent figure is not mainstream history
Scholars who study the Atlantic slave trade caution against tidy percentages. Serious estimates typically place the share of enslaved Africans with Muslim backgrounds in the low‑to‑mid tens of percent for the broader Atlantic world, with regional and methodological differences. The sweeping “up to 50 percent” number that El‑Sayed repeats in the clip is higher than the mainstream scholarly consensus for the U.S. context and should be treated as an attention‑grabbing estimate, not settled fact. In short: an intriguing history note, yes — a definitive claim that Muslims “built” America, no.
Why this matters in the 2026 campaign
Politics explains why an older clip is suddenly front‑page news. Opponents are using the footage to cast El‑Sayed as a man who embraces radical reinterpretations of our past. Whether you think that’s fair, the timing is clear: in a close Senate contest, every viral moment gets weaponized. Voters deserve clarity. If the candidate meant to acknowledge early Muslim travelers and the complicated religious backgrounds of some enslaved people, say so plainly. If he meant something else, we should hear it. Until then, the clip will be what campaign operatives want it to be — a megaphone for their side’s narrative.
Bottom line
There is a real and interesting historical note about early Muslim presence in the Americas, but the video’s leap from Estevanico to “Muslims built this country” is a classic case of historical overreach turned political ammunition. The 50 percent claim is an eyebrow‑raiser, not a settled textbook fact. Voters should expect candidates to use history accurately and to explain themselves when they don’t. If nothing else, this episode is a reminder that in politics, a single sound bite can do more work than a stack of books — and that’s exactly why campaigns and voters both need better standards for truth.
