Senator-elect El-Sayed Says He Will Likely Take Oath on a Quran, Citing Jefferson's Copy

Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, said in an NPR interview that he will likely be sworn in on a Quran, though he has not chosen which copy. The interview, with host Leila Fadel, was published Thursday on the Newsmakers podcast. El-Sayed, 42, defeated Republican nominee Mike Rogers in the midterms and will be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. He pointed to Thomas Jefferson's copy, which Keith Ellison used when sworn into Congress, and to the oldest Quran in Michigan, held by the University of Michigan. Ellison, elected in 2006 as the first Muslim in Congress, represented Minnesota until 2019 and is now the state's attorney general. In the same interview, El-Sayed backed replacing Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and repeated calls to end the Iran war, pass Medicare for All and abolish ICE. Separately, Bruce Springsteen endorsed El-Sayed on social media on the eve of the election, and the 18,000-member Facebook fan club Spring-Nuts said it would disband amid member infighting.

Breitbart and the Daily Wire, on the right, both lead with the Quran oath. Breitbart's headline quotes him directly, it calls him "leftist," and it adds Monticello's account of Jefferson's copy. It also recalls its earlier reports on his campaign's confirmation that he follows Sharia law personally, a Muslim Brotherhood figure praising his win, and a Colombia trip. The Daily Wire's headline says he "teases" a nod to Islam. It covers more of the interview: Schumer, Iran, Medicare for All, ICE, and Ellison's background. NPR, on the left, frames the interview as a discussion of his win and his agenda, and its excerpt does not mention the oath. All sides identify him as the first Muslim senator-elect. The A.V. Club, an alternative outlet, takes a separate angle, covering Springsteen's endorsement and the fan club's breakup.