CBS News takes heat over report on Dem hopeful Abdul El-Sayed's now-deleted 9/11 posts
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed found himself at the center of a media firestorm Monday, as CBS News published a report examining deleted social media posts he made about the Sept. 11 attacks ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist strikes. The coverage reignited debate over the limits of political retrospection, the sensitivity of referencing 9/11 in contemporary discourse, and the line between accountability and discrimination.
The CBS report cited two specific online entries from El-Sayed’s past. A 2020 post compared the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the 2001 attacks to the toll of the coronavirus pandemic, while a September 11, 2021, message opened with “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.” Both had been deleted prior to the report’s publication but were traced back to the Michigan nominee’s accounts.
CBS News ran the piece Monday, positioning it as part of the lead-up to the quarter-century mark of the 2001 attacks. The timing prompted an immediate backlash from across the political and media spectrum. Far-left commentator Hasan Piker called the headline “insane” on X, while Zeto founder Mehdi Hasan asked whether a segment focusing on the potential first Muslim Democratic senator by way of referencing 9/11 amounted to Islamophobia. The Bulwark’s Tim Miller labeled the coverage “despicable anti-Muslim woke right garbage,” and Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari went further, calling it “blatantly racist.” Vox’s Astead Herndon lamented that the episode only added to a “depleted” media ecosystem.
Critics also tied the controversy to the recent transition at CBS News, where Bari Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief following Paramount’s acquisition of The Free Press. Some suggested the report reflected a broader editorial direction, though the network’s news operation emphasized standard practices.
A CBS News source familiar with the story told Fox News Digital that coverage of deleted social media posts from politicians is a routine occurrence, saying such reports “happen all the time.” CBS News did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for comment from Fox News Digital.
El-Sayed was pressed about the posts by a CBS News reporter on the campaign trail. In his remarks, he acknowledged the gravity of the 2001 attacks while redirecting the conversation toward foreign policy. “What happened on 9/11 is a disaster. It was a terrible attack on our country,” El-Sayed said. “And our responsibility is also to think about, how do we build an America where we are protecting our servicemen and women from being asked to fight in wars we have no business fighting in?”
The deleted posts had first been flagged by The Washington Free Beacon and later amplified by Fox News, which framed an essay around a parallel between El-Sayed’s writing and extremist rhetoric. That coverage, like the CBS report, touched off a round of condemnation from progressive allies who argued the scrutiny was disproportionate and rooted in bias against Muslim Americans.
The episode underscores the tension between vetting candidates’ past comments and the potential for politically charged coverage to strike a nerve, particularly when symbolic touchstones like 9/11 are involved. As the 25th anniversary of the attacks passed, the conversation shifted from the historical remembrance of the day to the contemporary fallout of digging into politicians’ digital footprints, and whether the manner of that reporting serves public discourse or deepens division.