Jeffrey Soros on Abdul El-Sayed’s Grad School Journey

Jeffrey Soros, the nephew of prominent Democratic donor George Soros, shared at a fundraiser on Monday night that he has known Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee, since 2012. Their connection began when Soros interviewed El-Sayed for a family fellowship that eventually helped cover the candidate’s graduate school expenses.

Soros, who is also the CEO of the Los Angeles Media Fund, hosted El-Sayed at his California home for this private gathering, where organizers requested that no recordings be made. Video footage, however, captured Soros expressing his gratitude to the attendees and reminiscing about their first meeting.

“I want to thank you all for being here. It’s truly been a privilege,” Soros said in the footage. “Speaking of privilege, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Abdul since 2012. I interviewed him as a finalist for my parents’ fellowship, the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.”

El-Sayed, whose parents are Egyptian immigrants, was awarded the fellowship that same year. This program, initiated by Soros’ parents to assist immigrants and their children in graduate studies, had advertised awards of up to $90,000 over two years in 2012. El-Sayed is still listed as a fellow by the program.

According to an event flyer, attendees were able to contribute as much as $57,800 to the Abdul for Michigan Victory Fund. Jeffrey and his wife, Catharine, co-hosted the event along with Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, and Ben Rhodes, who are associated with the podcast Pod Save America.

This gathering has raised concerns for El-Sayed, especially since he has campaigned on the idea of reducing the influence of money in politics. In an interview earlier this year, he criticized the “fundamental corruption” of a system that allows “corporations and would-be oligarchs and billionaires” to gain influence through financial means.

The Republican nominee Mike Rogers’ campaign quickly capitalized on the footage. Communications director Alyssa Brouillet remarked to Fox News, “It’s not surprising that Abdul El-Sayed is raising dark Soros money in California after asking Chuck Schumer for support in DC. That’s the behavior of a conman — saying one thing but doing another.”

The El-Sayed campaign did not comment specifically on the fellowship comments but pointed out that “corporate special interests are spending millions of dollars in dark money to attempt to buy Rogers a Senate seat.”

The fundraiser took place against the backdrop of a poll released this month, indicating a close race, with Rogers leading El-Sayed 44.4 percent to 43.1 percent.