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CBS News this week verified deleted social‑media posts by Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El‑Sayed that compare the Sept. 11 attacks to other tragedies. The reporting has blown up into a fight over timing, tone and who gets to decide what is fair game in a tight Michigan Senate race. Voters deserve straight answers — not theatrical outrage from pundits more interested in scoring points than truth.
What CBS News uncovered about Abdul El‑Sayed’s deleted posts
CBS reported it verified two now‑deleted posts from El‑Sayed. One used the 9/11 death toll as a rhetorical benchmark when urging a national response to the COVID‑19 pandemic. Another, posted on a September 11 anniversary, contrasted the roughly 3,000 who died in New York with a much larger toll the post attributed to U.S. military action overseas. The campaign says El‑Sayed has “unequivocally condemned” terrorism and that old posts were removed to avoid miscontext. Fair enough — but deleting a post doesn’t erase the judgment behind it.
Left‑wing backlash: criticism of CBS or distraction from the content?
Predictably, many on the left exploded at CBS — accusing the network and its editor‑in‑chief, Bari Weiss, of Islamophobia and bad timing ahead of the 9/11 anniversary. Commentators and a Democratic congresswoman called the headline “racist” and “insane.” That response looks less like moral outrage and more like crisis PR: attack the messenger, not the message. If a candidate compared 9/11 to other events in a way that rubs voters the wrong way, the voters have a right to see it.
How this plays in the Michigan Senate race
This is a top‑tier battleground contest, and Republican opponent Mike Rogers will not let material like this sit quietly. Old tweets and deleted posts are easy fodder for ads and talking points about judgment and patriotism. In a close statewide race, perceptions matter. Whether or not a single post decides the outcome, it can feed a larger narrative that matters at the ballot box — especially when it’s tied to a solemn national anniversary.
What to watch next
Expect El‑Sayed’s campaign to offer fuller context and renewed condemnations of terrorism. Expect GOP ads and conservative outlets to splash the posts across the airwaves. And expect more hand‑wringing inside newsrooms over editorial choices — which is a separate fight the left seems eager to have. Voters should watch one simple thing: does the candidate clearly and simply explain his thinking and own up to past phrasing, or will the campaign hide behind deleted posts and outrage theater? That answer will matter more than the pundit parade.
