Glenn Greenwald says The Free Press left its false claim up and tacked on a correction two days later
Glenn GreenwaldJournalist and host of System Update, in a post on X
Greenwald says The Free Press left its viral post with a false claim in place, kept benefiting from it as it spread, and then added a correction two full days later that few would see.
Responding to
Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed gave his victory speech in Arabic.
“Leave the mega-viral tweet with the false sensationalistic claim, continue to profit off of that false claim as it continues to viralize, then tack on a "correction" TWO FULL DAYS LATER that nobody sees, just so you can say you did. Ladies and gentlemen: The Free Press.”
Original post
Analysis
Where this statement fits
The Free Press says Abdul El-Sayed gave his victory speech in Arabic, then corrects the post and deletes the video; Glenn Greenwald and Defector's Brandy Jensen criticize it
On November 4, 2026, after Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's U.S. Senate race, The Free Press posted an opinion video on X by reporter Maya Sulkin with a caption saying the senator-elect "gave his victory speech in Arabic last night." In the video, Sulkin said the first Muslim senator in American history had given his victory speech in Detroit in Arabic, and the caption also noted that Rep. Ilhan Omar addressed her victory party in Somali. El-Sayed's speech included Arabic words such as "habibi," which he addressed to Vice President JD Vance, and "inshallah," according to the Associated Press. The Free Press posted a correction two days later saying El-Sayed said a few phrases in Arabic but gave the majority of his speech in English. On November 8 it said it had deleted the video because the post contained a factual error and its tone fell short of its standards. Glenn Greenwald criticized the outlet for leaving the original post up and adding the correction two days later. Defector's Brandy Jensen called the video a willful mischaracterization.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Greenwald's post criticizing The Free Press for leaving its original post up and adding a correction two days later.
Analysis
About this source
Jensen's commentary on the video and its deletion. It quotes the original post's caption, Maya Sulkin's line in the video, the November 6 correction and the November 8 deletion note.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The Free Press's post said El-Sayed gave his victory speech in Arabic. Its correction, posted two days later, said he said a few phrases in Arabic but gave the majority of the speech in English.
After the quotation
Two days later, The Free Press said it had deleted the video.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Greenwald calls the post's claim false and says the late correction was added only so the outlet could say it had corrected it, which criticizes how it handled the error, so we labeled it condemns.
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More from this case
Read the full caseBrandy Jensen calls The Free Press video a willful mischaracterization of El-Sayed
“It's so hard to figure out why they may have scripted, produced, edited, and released such a willful mischaracterization of a politician about whom they've spent a lot of time fear-mongering”Read statement
The Free Press deletes its video, saying it contained a factual error and its tone fell short
The Free Press
“We deleted an opinion video about the use of foreign languages in election night speeches. The post contained a factual error and its tone fell short of what we believe advances healthy public discourse.”Read statement
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- Glenn Greenwald says The Free Press left its false claim up and tacked on a correction two days later
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/8968-greenwald-says-the-free-press-left-its-viral
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The Dispute Index. "Glenn Greenwald says The Free Press left its false claim up and tacked on a correction two days later". First published: 2026-11-14. Last updated: 2026-11-14. https://disputeindex.com/events/8968-greenwald-says-the-free-press-left-its-viral