Tom Cotton
Role at the time: U.S. Senator from Arkansas (Republican), in a post on X
Statement summary
Sen. Tom Cotton wrote on X that Senate Democrats were excited for Abdul El-Sayed, who he said had proudly said America deserved 9/11. HuffPost reported that Cotton later edited the post to say El-Sayed proudly campaigns with extremists who say it.
“Senate Democrats are ‘excited’ for Abdul El-Sayed who proudly said America deserved 9/11”
HuffPost report, published August 6, 2026, on Sen. Tom Cotton's August 5 post about El-Sayed and its later edit. It quotes the post directly and gives the background on Hasan Piker's 2019 remark.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case centers on Mike Rogers's accusation that El-Sayed believed America deserved the September 11 attacks. Cotton's post makes the same attribution in his own words, so it backs that accusation. We labeled it Defended or excused, as we did for the other speakers who back the accusation.