Michigan Gov. Candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s Ties to George Soros-Mostly Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Candidate for Michigan governor Abdul El-Sayed has been groomed by billionaire philanthropist George Soros to become the next Barack Obama.
The Truth:
We couldn’t find any direct links between Abdul El-Sayed and George Soros — but El-Sayed did study at Columbia University on a fellowship offered by George’s late brother, Paul Soros.
Claims that Abdul El-Sayed and George Soros are linked, and that Soros has groomed El-Sayed to be the next Barack Obama, first surfaced at The Olive Branch Report, a fringe website that states it provides content “as is” and “without warranties of any kind,” shortly after Abdul El-Sayed announced his campaign for Michigan governor in spring 2017.
The story, appearing under the headline, “The Next Obama: Abdul EL-Sayed Is Being Groomed By George Soros,” reports:
There is a new potential “darling” of the Left. He is an accomplished doctor with a “Soros” Fellowship. I knew that Soros had to be in the picture somewhere with Dr. el-Sayed.
Although the headline of the report clearly claims that Abdul El-Sayed and George Soros are linked, the body of the report references only the ambiguous “Soros’ Fellowship” — leading readers to draw the false conclusion that the fellowship was offered by George Soros.
In reality, the “‘Soros’ Fellowship” referenced in the report is the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which is not directly affiliated with George Soros. Paul, who died in 2013 at 87, made his fortune as an engineer specializing in the port-building industry. Sometimes referred to the “forgotten Soros” because he was overshadowed by his older brother, George, Paul founded the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans in 1998, the New York Times reports:
Last month Paul Soros and his wife, Daisy, made their first foray into major philanthropy when they announced the creation of a $50 million trust to help underwrite American graduate education for immigrants and their children. The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans will give selected students one-half of their tuition costs plus $20,000, for up to three years, at any graduate institution in the United States.
Abdul El-Sayed, the now 32-year-old public health physician and epidemiologist, earned a doctorate from Oxford University as Rhodes Scholar before earning a medical degree from Columbia University as a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. El-Sayed completed his fellowship in 2012 with a medical degree in public health from Columbia, the foundation’s website reports. El-Sayed then went on to work for the city of Detroit as the director of public health.
Again, we couldn’t find any direct connection between Abdul El-Sayed and George Soros. Although El-Sayed was a Paul & Daisy Soros fellow, there’s no indication that George Soros is tied to the foundation, or to El-Sayed. That makes claims that Soros is grooming El-Sayed to be the next Barack Obama”fiction” — but given El-Sayed’s connection to Geroge Soros’ brother, we’re calling this claim “mostly fiction.”