Bari Weiss Draws Fire for Reportedly Pushing CBS News to Investigate El-Sayed's Alleged Muslim Brotherhood Ties

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has reportedly drawn criticism from progressive circles following a report that she encouraged her staff to investigate potential ties between Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Semafor reported Sunday that Weiss "personally advocated for CBS News journalists to pursue numerous story angles related to El-Sayed’s supposed sympathy towards the Muslim Brotherhood." The report cited two anonymous CBS News staffers who expressed dissatisfaction with Weiss' directive.

Critics have voiced strong opposition to Weiss' alleged actions. Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo and former MSNBC host, wrote on X, "A rightwing, pro-Israel, anti-Muslim troll who has zero qualifications to be running national TV network is in fact running a national TV network and trying to get it to behave like a rightwing, pro-Israel, anti-Muslim troll." Jeet Heer, a correspondent for The Nation, stated, "No self-respecting journalist should work for Bari Weiss." Far-left activist Shaun King also commented, "Nobody should respect or trust ANYTHING coming out of @CBSNews at this point."

Defenders of Weiss have suggested that the criticism stems from staffers being unwilling to pursue difficult journalistic assignments. Tim Graham, executive editor of NewsBusters, told Fox News Digital that disgruntled employees complaining to liberal media outlets about Weiss "helps reinforce" a perceived bias against conservative viewpoints. "She’s making them do difficult things," Graham said, quipping, "Can we look into whether Abdul El-Sayed has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, like his family says they do? How dare you. You’re not supposed to do stories that might make Democrats look bad."

The controversy arises amid unearthed social media posts from El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi. In a 2012 post, Abdelhadi wrote, "Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect." Another post from the same year stated, "My family has long been MB, but I've always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively." In 2013, she posted, "Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in #Egypt. Lie low, stay safe."

According to a Brookings Institution report, El-Sayed's mother, Fatten Elkomy, attended Egypt's Alexandria University in the 1970s, a period when the institution reportedly had significant Muslim Brotherhood activity.

During an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, El-Sayed denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. In a more recent, contentious exchange with NBC's Tom Llamas, El-Sayed reiterated his denial, stating, "I have no ties, we have no ties." He also suggested that the line of questioning, which referenced posts from 2012 and 2013, was irrelevant to his life and career in Michigan.

El-Sayed compared the scrutiny to the religious prejudice faced by John F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign. He likened the questions about his family's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood to the challenges Kennedy, as a Catholic, encountered.