DI has documented statements by Abdul El-Sayed on 2026 Midterm Elections, Antisemitism, and Artificial Intelligence, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Democratic nominee, U.S. Senate (Michigan)
Challenged the characterization
Statement summary
Abdul El-Sayed declined to say whether he would return CAIR-linked campaign donations Mike Rogers had demanded back, defended CAIR as "a civil rights organization," and characterized Rogers's attack as an attempt to make the race about "the color of my skin or how I pray."
“I'm focused on you and your gas prices and the price of your groceries. He's focused on trying to turn this into some kind of culture war.”
El-Sayed declines to return the CAIR-linked donations Rogers demanded back and defends CAIR as a civil rights organization, characterizing Rogers's funding allegation as a culture-war attack rather than directly engaging its factual premise — challenging the characterization without conceding or fully rebutting the underlying claim.
Role at the time: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Michigan
Mixed or conditional
Statement summary
At a Senate debate, Abdul El-Sayed disavowed specific past comments by Hasan Piker about Jewish Americans while defending his continued engagement with Piker generally.
“When Hassan made these comments about Jewish Americans and Jewish Michiganders, I disavowed them entirely.”
El-Sayed disavows Piker's specific comments about Jewish Americans and Jewish Michiganders while defending his continued general engagement with Piker — combining a specific condemnation with a broader defense, rather than the full, unconditional disavowal he was asked for.
Role at the time: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Michigan
Explicitly stayed out
Statement summary
Pressed a third time on CBS about condemning Hasan Piker, Abdul El-Sayed declined to answer and redirected to cost-of-living issues.
“Weija, with all due respect, this is the third time you've asked about a Twitch streamer in California... I'm not all that interested in having a conversation about streamers in California because they are not raising the prices of gas and groceries.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Transcript: Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 13, 2026AI exchange, transcript lines 127–131; video segment linked at transcript lines 146–149.
Why we used this label
Pressed directly on why he has not condemned Piker's rhetoric, El-Sayed redirects to a different topic rather than answering — an explicit decline, not silence.
Role at the time: Michigan Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Abdul El-Sayed calls for a public AI-safety agency, defined no-go uses, public oversight, and a pause in frontier-AI research pending safety assurance.
“We've also been calling for a pause on any of this frontier AI research until we can assure that this is being done safely.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Transcript: Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 13, 2026AI exchange, transcript lines 127–131; video segment linked at transcript lines 146–149.
Why we used this label
On whether Washington should impose stronger frontier-AI safeguards, El-Sayed directly argues for a public safety agency, public oversight, no-go uses, and a safety-based pause.
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, replying from his campaign-linked X account
Condemned
Statement summary
Replying to a Rogers post that urged him to disavow Hasan Piker, El-Sayed criticized Rogers’s record on 9/11 responder health care and asserted that Rogers had opposed it nine times. The entry records El-Sayed’s criticism and asserted count, rather than treating the count as an independent finding.
“You’re right. Sorry. Turns out you didn’t vote to deny 9/11 first responders healthcare twice. You did it NINE times.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Abdul El-Sayed’s reply to Mike Rogers about 9/11 responder health care · Abdul El-SayedX post 2098888435700298207; displayed September 12, 2026 timestamp; reply to Rogers’s embedded post
Why we used this label
El-Sayed directly criticizes Rogers’s conduct and voting record in a reply within the ongoing campaign dispute.
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, delivering an anniversary statement published by his campaign
Challenged the characterization
Response to this claim
Abdul El-Sayed believes the United States deserved the September 11 attacks.
“Nothing can justify the murder of innocent civilians. Nothing.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Abdul El-Sayed’s September 11 campaign statement · Abdul for U.S. SenateCampaign press release dated September 11, 2026; quoted statement in paragraphs beginning “Today, on 9/11” and “They tried to diminish America.”
Why we used this label
This statement provides contrary contextual evidence to the belief attributed to El-Sayed in Claim 113. He expressly rules out justification of the attacks. The classification concerns that attribution; the source does not establish an explicit reply to Rogers or condemnation of Rogers’s campaign conduct.
Role at the time: U.S. Senate candidate, through campaign statement
Condemned
Statement summary
In a campaign release, El-Sayed criticized Rogers for invoking 9/11 in campaign rhetoric while, in El-Sayed’s characterization, opposing health care for people who responded to the attacks. The release linked that criticism to reporting on Rogers’s congressional voting record.
“This is somebody who—when he thinks it’s politically useful for him—wants to invoke the memory of 9/11.”
El-Sayed’s statement directly criticizes Rogers’s conduct and political use of the 9/11 attacks. The record attributes the health-care characterization to El-Sayed’s campaign and keeps the vote reporting separate.
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan
Challenged the characterization
Statement summary
Before Rogers’s September 10 funding allegation, El-Sayed said opponents’ recurring attacks were attempts to divide voters rather than address shared problems.
“They’re going to keep trying to divide us because they got no answers around the problems that unite us.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Fact check: No evidence Abdul El-Sayed ‘pledged support’ to Muslim BrotherhoodLines 101–103, 109–110
Why we used this label
El-Sayed challenged the broader characterization behind recurring Muslim Brotherhood-related attacks. He did not address the later campaign-finance allegation in this statement.
Abdul El-Sayed supports federal privacy guardrails for Flock cameras. Mike Rogers says states can act and opposes tracking people who have committed no crimes. The dispute concerns who should set the rules.
Abdul El-Sayed declined to rank Israel and Iran as threats during Michigan's Senate debate, describing different dangers from each. Pete Buttigieg answered that Iran is an enemy and Israel an ally, while saying he would still vote for El-Sayed.
Rogers says prices are too high and the tariff fight with Canada should end. El-Sayed says Rogers backed the tariffs from the beginning. Trump reads the ad as a call for Canada to make a deal.
Abdul El-Sayed says families could retain private insurance under his Medicare for All proposal. Mike Rogers describes it as a government takeover. The campaign allows additional private coverage but expects universal public insurance to make it unnecessary.
A College Republicans group chat message says America Next offered members $200 each to disrupt Abdul El-Sayed's Flint town hall. The group says it did not coordinate, America Next did not respond, and as of October 4, 2026, no report shows anyone was paid.
Hasan Piker told Axios the US has caused more terrorism than al-Qaeda "pound for pound." The full episode added more contested claims -- on Iran's nuclear programme, Mao Zedong, China and Zionism -- and drew condemnation from both parties.
Cornell says its investigation led to expulsions and suspensions. Critics say its response to the Chi Phi allegations was inadequate and opaque. The civil complaint mentions essays as a way to mitigate conduct, not as the only sanction.
The Front Line Action's AI-generated ad opposing Abdul El-Sayed drew criticism from a political scientist who says its terrorism-related framing evokes anti-Muslim stereotypes. The sponsor's leader asked which imagery was Islamophobic.
Mike Rogers accused Abdul El-Sayed of funding his Senate campaign with terrorist-group money. The case examines the allegation, FEC records documenting outside-support transfers, related public responses, and whether any record establishes a direct payment from a designated organization.
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Trump backs company controls and outside audits for frontier AI. Critics want enforceable federal safeguards, and the White House now calls incident reporting mandatory without identifying enforcement mechanisms or penalties.
Read twelve distinct appeals by Mike Rogers and his campaign for Abdul El-Sayed to disavow Hasan Piker, documented as of September 21, 2026. The timeline counts dated requests and excludes repeated coverage.
