El-Sayed says Republicans are using Islamophobia because their ideas are tired
Abdul El-SayedDemocratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, interviewed by Jacob Soboroff on All In
Responding to attacks from Rogers and other Republicans after the primary, El-Sayed characterized their approach as divisive and anti-Muslim rather than an accurate account of his priorities.
Responding to
Abdul El-Sayed believes the United States deserved the September 11 attacks.
“So they’re going to use Islamophobia because their ideas are tired.”
Interview
Reporting
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
The broadcaster embeds the full August 5 interview and quotes El-Sayed’s response; its accompanying article was published August 6. The YouTube mirror is ZxcOGYPE16w. The broadcaster’s text and PolitiFact corroborate the response and date.
Reporting
About this source
Original reporting includes the campaign’s response to a request for its evidence. Brouillet’s statement is a direct quotation from that exchange, not an inference from silence. The report distinguishes El-Sayed’s explicit rejection of justifying 9/11 from his refusal to disavow an ally. We record that distinction without adopting PolitiFact’s rating as the case’s purpose.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Rogers had issued his 9/11 accusation after the primary. The interview also addressed other Republican criticism, so the selected quotation is not exclusive to the 9/11 claim.
After the quotation
El-Sayed emphasized shared concerns about family welfare, health care and economic conditions, and challenged Rogers to debates. His earlier explicit rejection of justifying 9/11 is recorded separately.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The direct interview condemns divisive campaign conduct rather than just correcting attribution. Original reporting ties the answer specifically to the accusation; broader criticisms do not erase that link.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Mike Rogers
Corrections to this statement
These notices document reporting corrections, classification changes, and topic-label updates.
Classification correction
Correction to: Statement by Abdul El-Sayed
- Previous classification
- Challenges the characterization. He directly challenged how opponents were presenting him; the characterization of their tactics is attributed to El-Sayed, not asserted by DI as a motive finding.
- Corrected classification
- Condemns. The direct interview condemns divisive campaign conduct rather than just correcting attribution. Original reporting ties the answer specifically to the accusation; broader criticisms do not erase that link.
We corrected the editorial classification of Abdul El-Sayed's response about Rogers’s attack and its allegedly Islamophobic tactics. The direct interview condemns divisive campaign conduct rather than just correcting attribution. Original reporting ties the answer specifically to the accusation; broader criticisms do not erase that link. This corrects our labeling, not a later change in the speaker's position.
This corrects an editorial classification.
The broadcaster embeds the full August 5 interview and quotes El-Sayed’s response; its accompanying article was published August 6. The YouTube mirror is ZxcOGYPE16w. The broadcaster’s text and PolitiFact corroborate the response and date.
Original reporting includes the campaign’s response to a request for its evidence. Brouillet’s statement is a direct quotation from that exchange, not an inference from silence. The report distinguishes El-Sayed’s explicit rejection of justifying 9/11 from his refusal to disavow an ally. We record that distinction without adopting PolitiFact’s rating as the case’s purpose.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)More from this case
Read the full caseTrump tells Michigan to fight El-Sayed "just like Todd did" on Flight 93
“Twenty-five years later, Michigan needs to stand up and fight, just like Todd did, to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol”Read statement
Abdul El-Sayed calls Piker’s 9/11 remark “a dumb comment” and rejects its use in the campaign
“It’s a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment. And they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power aside from his stream, rather than talk about the guy who has a lot of power to make dumb wars that we’re paying for.”Read statement
El-Sayed disavows Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and says he gives it little weight
“I do not agree with this statement, nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer. I am more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders.”Read statement
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- The Dispute Index
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- El-Sayed says Republicans are using Islamophobia because their ideas are tired
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/434-responding-to-attacks-from-rogers-and-other-republicans
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "El-Sayed says Republicans are using Islamophobia because their ideas are tired". First published: 2026-09-11. Last updated: 2026-09-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/434-responding-to-attacks-from-rogers-and-other-republicans