Ted Cruz says he believes El-Sayed is member of Muslim Brotherhood, claims he lied about ties

United States Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said that he believes Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, claiming that he "flat-out lied" about his family connections to the group.

"He said no, I have no connections, and Meet the Press just said okay and accepted it," Cruz claimed, saying that the evidence was "overwhelming."

According to Cruz, El-Sayed had previously written pieces defending the Muslim Brotherhood, and had also urged Mohamed Morsi, ousted former president of Egypt, to "purge the press and purge police."

Cruz also referenced El-Sayed's family, saying that his sister had twice tweeted that their family had "long supported" the Muslim Brotherhood, and that El-Sayed's father-in-law was a major donor to his campaign and also founder of "an Islamic corporation which is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation criminal case," which involved the funneling of money to Hamas.

"El-Sayed is not complicated; he hates Israel, he hates Jews," Cruz claimed.

El-Sayed has repeatedly addressed his alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood group in recent weeks after his sister's social media posts from 2012 resurfaced, claiming that their mother was involved in the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1970s.

El-Sayed has said he does not know what his mother was doing in Egypt during the 1970s, explaining he was 3 years old when his parents divorced and didn’t see his mother for years after being raised by his father and stepmother, according to CNN.

“They want to talk about me or point to my mom or my sister,” El-Sayed told local media outlets on Thursday during a campaign event in Marquet, Michigan. “I’m running for office. Judge me by my actions and my work," he added.

Maya Zanger-Shamir contributed to this report.