CBS News wrote Monday that Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan Abdul El‑Sayed may face renewed scrutiny after the network published a report citing deleted social media posts in which he compared the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the coronavirus pandemic.
The report cited posts from 2020 that compared the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on Sept. 11 to the pandemic toll. It also cited a Sept. 11, 2021, post first uncovered by The Washington Free Beacon that read, “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.”
Progressive commentators and some liberal critics protested the coverage. Far‑left commentator Hasan Piker called the headline “insane” on X and suggested ownership changes at CBS were a factor. Zeteo founder and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan asked CBS on X whether framing the story around the prospect of the nation’s “first ever Muslim Democratic senator” was “super offensive and disgusting and Islamophobic.” The Bulwark podcast host Tim Miller called the coverage “despicable anti‑Muslim woke right garbage,” and Vox host Astead Herndon said institutional media credibility has eroded.
A source familiar with the story told Fox News Digital that reports about deleted social media posts from politicians are published “all the time,” according to Fox News Digital. El‑Sayed was confronted on the campaign trail by a local CBS News reporter, and he told the reporter, “What happened on 9/11 is a disaster. It was a terrible attack on our country. 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?”
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, the outlet reported. The report and subsequent reaction came as the nation prepared to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, CBS News said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
