Schlossberg Slams El-Sayed’s JFK Comparison as Misdirection

The only grandson of President John F. Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg, is rejecting comparisons to his grandfather by Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, saying the Michigan Democrat took a polar opposite approach from Kennedy in his effort to quell concern about how his religion would figure into his governing.“Senator-elect El Sayed invoked JFK’s faith to compare his election to that of the first Catholic president. JFK ran on policy and took questions on religion. Abdul did the opposite,” Mr. Schlossberg wrote in a post on X.The post came in response to comments that Dr. El-Sayed made during an interview last month on “MS NOW Reports,” in which he was asked about alleged family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Facing questions from host Ali Velshi, Dr. El-Sayed invoked Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, during which Kennedy’s Catholic faith became a point of national scrutiny.“I also know that I tread a long history of this: when John F. Kennedy ran for president, he was asked about whether or not his allegiance would be to the Constitution or to the pope and the Vatican,” Dr. El-Sayed said during the interview.He went on to frame the questions about his family’s alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood as an attempt to undermine his loyalty to the country. “The Constitution guarantees me the right, as I choose to pray, or any of us, to pray as we choose to pray or not to pray at all,” Dr. El-Sayed said. “Nobody understands how important that document is like somebody who has their rights constantly threatened, and so I will stand for that Constitution. And it’s a crazy thing to assume that somehow I’d have dual loyalties as somebody who’s avidly running to protect the right to choose, who’s running to protect LGBTQ rights, who’s running to protect religious freedom.”Mr. Schlossberg’s post pointedly distinguished between how Kennedy and Dr. El-Sayed have handled questions about their backgrounds. Where Kennedy, according to Mr. Schlossberg, built his campaign around policy while directly addressing concerns about his faith, Dr. El-Sayed has largely sidestepped the substance of the allegations against his family.Mr. Schlossberg, the son of the U.S. ambassador Caroline Kennedy and designer Edwin Schlossberg, has emerged in recent months as a vocal commentator on political matters touching his family’s legacy. His own run for Congress ended in defeat earlier this year, when he lost a crowded Democratic primary to New York State Assemblyman Micah Lasher.The controversy surrounding Dr. El-Sayed stems from reporting that uncovered years-old social media posts from his half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, describing their family’s history with the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any personal ties to the organization, though the posts have fueled scrutiny, including from his vanquished GOP rival Mike Rogers.

Schlossberg Slams El-Sayed’s JFK Comparison as Misdirection

Schlossberg Slams El-Sayed’s JFK Comparison as Misdirection

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