"This is the guy who runs the country and throws people in jail who don't do what he says," observed Bandow, who has served under President Ronald Reagan as a special assistant. "This isn't like going to independent churches, some top spiritual leader … in America, or going to local congregations and saying, rethink something."

He likened it to "the president of the United States going to state-funded churches — where he can cut off your money and throw you out of the job — and he says, 'I think you should talk differently.' Those are very different things.

"He might win acquiescence, but I don't think that he wins acceptance from the people listening," Bandow told Newsmax. "He doesn't have a lot of independent credibility among genuine, devout Muslims."

True fundamentalist Islamic leaders will have the greatest impact in any such effort, not a politician with el-Sisi's reputation, he said.

"The turning point has to come from spiritual leaders, who have been rather fundamentalist, standing up and saying: 'We're serious Muslims, but this is beyond the pale. Allah never intended this. This is an outrage.'

"That's the turning point," Bandow said. "I haven't seen that yet. I would love to see it. We need that. Islam needs it. I don't see how el-Sisi provides that."