Well, it's true.
CBS News has pissed off a lot of people with its story about the approaching 25th anniversary of 9/11 and the effect it could have on the campaign of Michigan Democratic Socialist Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed is trying to distance himself from campaign surrogate Hasan Piker, who said that America deserved 9/11, by refusing to call him by name recently, referring to him as just a Twitch streamer. Just last week, El-Sayed told the press, "You would think, if you turned on any media, that this whole campaign is about a streamer in California." For his part, Piker is standing by his man.
As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack. https://t.co/BHsuxDhOZj
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 31, 2026
Gee that’s too bad.
— Will Collier (@willcollier) August 31, 2026
Are you fucking serious?
— JWF (@JammieWF) August 31, 2026
Yes, CBS News is serious, and they've triggered all of the usual suspects. Justin Baragona, a media columnist for Mehdi Hasan's Zeteo News, reports that even a CBS News staffer admitted the article was pretty Islamophobic.
"Yeah, it’s trash. The article itself is also horribly Islamophobic," a CBS staffer told me about this tweet. https://t.co/YDN4VwK5GF
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 31, 2026
Let's see. Zak Hudak reports for CBS News:
Meanwhile, El-Sayed's past references to the deadly attacks have continued to surface, including two deleted social media posts verified by CBS News that have not been previously reported. In those posts, he calls for the American public to muster the same outrage for the COVID-19 death toll that they displayed after 9/11.
In one, from April 2020, El-Sayed compared the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on Sept. 11 to the mounting COVID-19 death toll and argued for a response commensurate with the nation's post-9/11 mobilization. In another, El-Sayed wrote that because more Americans had died from COVID than in the Sept. 11 attacks, he hoped "that means we'll spend the next ten years fighting a war for public health & against poverty ... like we launched a global #WaronTerror after 9/11. We could save lives rather than take them."
"Abdul has always unequivocally condemned terrorism and the September 11 attacks," a spokesperson for El-Sayed's campaign said in a statement to CBS News. "Mike Rogers' attempts to misrepresent Abdul's beliefs are bad-faith lies meant to mislead Michiganders."
In another deleted post, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, El-Sayed wrote on Sept. 11, 2021: "Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I'll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country."
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Also triggered was Baragona's boss at Zeteo, Mehdi Hasan.
Hi @CBS @CBSNews @bariweiss do you think it's super offensive and disgusting and Islamophobic to do a tweet about the potential first ever Muslim Democratic senator which begins by referencing 9/11? https://t.co/vLWH0BWF7D
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 31, 2026
Well since he wants to associate with a guy famous for saying America deserved 9/11, no
— HowlingMutant (@Howlingmutant0) August 31, 2026
Why would that be offensive? What happened on that day?
— Eric (@imusfan43ca) August 31, 2026
What happened on Sept 11, 2001 that would invite scrutiny into El-Sayed's prior statements, CBS?
— Lili von Shtupp (@LvS_Redux) August 31, 2026
Some people did something.
In fairness, Abdul did recently campaign with and is apparently struggling to disavow someone who said America deserved 9/11. At the end of the day, this entire narrative could've been easily put to bed by way of Abdul simply condemning and disavowing the guy who said it.
— Revolutionizer (@Revvolutionizer) August 31, 2026
Our own Sam J. already used the photo of El-Sayed giving Piker a fist-bump when she wrote about his trying to delete his 2021 post, so this editor will have to find another photo to use with this post.
The recent Islamist attacks on Jews in Michigan would've been more appropriate. 100%.
— Lex Jurgen (@Lex_Jurgen) August 31, 2026
"Hurt people, hurt people."
Hey Mehdi, his mom with the IARA donated money to Bin Laden. And AES campaigned with a guy who said the US deserved 9/11. That’s not Islamophobia it’s called caution
— themoderateman (@themoderateman9) August 31, 2026
Hey Medhi, do you think it’s super offensive and disgusting for the potential first ever Muslim Democratic senator to campaign with a man who said America deserved 9/11?
— Uthgoul (@Uthgoul) August 31, 2026
If you lie down with dogs, expect fleas… or a shock collar
No. It’s not super offensive and disgusting and Islamophobic.
— Jordan Golson (@jlgolson) August 31, 2026
Hope that helps.
Not when the candidate believes we deserved it… And yeah, I heard him back off and it was pathetic… Once again, we misunderstood him.
— Anthony Grisanti (@AnthonyGriz) August 31, 2026
Absolutely nothing is incorrect in the post by CBS
— Chance Buchman (@ChanceBuchman) August 31, 2026
Everything can’t be offensive, racist and Islamophobic. He did tweet those things.
— Dr. Keneike (@keneike) August 31, 2026
Yeah, it's a little offensive, but it's a true factor. You just wanting to put on blinders and ignore it doesn't help
— James P (@FreeEconomies) August 31, 2026
Why is it offensive or islamaphobic when he brought scrutiny upon himself by deleting his 9/11 posts. Are we supposed to pretend it’s not relevant what his thoughts were then vs. now as a politician?
— VMW (@Vwms63) August 31, 2026
Would you prefer they sweep it under the rug?
— TheBestBake (@TheBestBake1) August 31, 2026
Yes, please. That's what Zeteo will do.
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