On August 4, Abdul El-Sayed, a leading progressive candidate, won Michigan's Democratic primary for the US Senate.
The 41-year-old will face Republican Mike Rogers in the November 3 midterm elections. The winner will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
Michigan is a battleground or so-called "swing" state, where both parties have a strong chance of winning. The large Arab American and Muslim population plays a key role.
If El-Sayed wins in November, he would become the first Muslim US senator in history.
Soon after his primary victory, several false claims about El-Sayed were spread online, including claims promoted by prominent political figures.
According to Lawrence Pintak, a journalism professor at Washington State University and author of America & Islam, El-Sayed is an ideal target for political disinformation.
"He checks off all the boxes: He's a Muslim, he's a progressive, and he is vocally critical of Israel," Pintak said in a written statement to DW.
DW Fact check examined claims about voting irregularities during the primaries, El-Sayed's political ideology and whether he said the US deserved the 9/11 attacks.
Claim: "Of course they cheated. Nobody actually votes for communists," a Facebook post claimed, linking to an article headlined: "Abdul El-Sayed got three times as many votes in Detroit as there are registered voters."
The article states that El-Sayed "received 1.4 million votes in Detroit alone — a city with...
Deutsche Welle has refuted several false claims circulating online following the victory of progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic Party’s primary for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. ...