El-Sayed rejects justifying 9/11 while defending his appearance with Piker
Abdul El-SayedDemocratic U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, interviewed on Fox & Friends
El-Sayed rejected justifying the attacks but defended appearing with Piker, separating agreement with a statement from engaging an ally’s audience.
Responding to
Appearing at a political event with Hasan Piker does not establish agreement with all of Piker’s statements.
“Of course I don’t think 9/11 was justified.”
Interview
Where this statement fits
Mike Rogers’s 9/11 accusation against Abdul El-Sayed
After Michigan’s August 2026 Senate primary, Mike Rogers asserted that Abdul El-Sayed believed America deserved the September 11 attacks. His campaign defended that accusation by citing El-Sayed’s association with Hasan Piker and reluctance to disavow him. El-Sayed had explicitly rejected justifying 9/11 and argued that appearing with a person did not imply agreement. He described Rogers’s attacks as an effort to divide voters through Islamophobia. Pod Save America hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer later debated the strategy and construction of a related Republican ad without endorsing its factual claims.
Source and context
Interview
About this source
Original broadcaster’s account and embedded interview. El-Sayed rejects justification of 9/11 and argues that sharing an appearance need not signal agreement. This predates Rogers’s August accusation and is included as relevant context, not presented as a response made afterward.
Before the quotation
He was asked about Piker’s controversial remarks before their scheduled Michigan campaign events.
After the quotation
He criticized demands to avoid an appearance because of disagreement. This interview predates Rogers’s August accusation and is included as contrary contextual evidence.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
He combined rejection of the underlying sentiment with a defense of the campaign appearance; neither unconditional endorsement nor complete disavowal describes both parts.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Hasan Piker
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Abdul El-Sayed calls Piker’s 9/11 remark “a dumb comment” and rejects its use in the campaign
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- El-Sayed rejects justifying 9/11 while defending his appearance with Piker
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The Dispute Index. "El-Sayed rejects justifying 9/11 while defending his appearance with Piker". First published: 2026-09-11. Last updated: 2026-09-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/430-el-sayed-rejected-justifying-the-attacks-but-defended