The reported involvement of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss in a report concerning deleted social media posts by Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has sparked a contentious debate on social media.
The CBS News report, published earlier in the week, highlighted El-Sayed's now-deleted posts referencing 9/11, timed with the approaching 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The report stated that El-Sayed "may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack."
According to a report by Status News, Weiss allegedly praised the story during a network editorial meeting and personally directed a headline change to specifically mention that El-Sayed had deleted tweets related to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The original headline reportedly read, "For Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, Sept. 11 commemoration invites scrutiny of past remarks," while the version published with Weiss's alleged involvement was, "Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's deleted tweets on Sept. 11 attacks invite scrutiny of past remarks."
Elements on the political left viewed Weiss's alleged role as a "scandal." Critics, including the liberal outlet MeidasTouch and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, expressed strong disapproval, with some labeling it "Islamophobia" and arguing that CBS News should not be allowed to host debates featuring Democratic candidates.
Conversely, many on the right dismissed the criticism, framing Weiss's actions as standard editorial practice. Commentators like Mollie Hemingway and Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review suggested that an editor's role is to edit. GOP strategist Matt Whitlock characterized the reaction as "Bari Derangement Syndrome," emphasizing the newsworthiness of a candidate deleting tweets about 9/11, particularly after campaigning with an individual who made controversial remarks about the attacks.
The CBS report cited El-Sayed's deleted posts, including those from 2020 that compared the nearly 3,000 lives lost on 9/11 to the death toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Another post from September 11, 2021, first reported by The Washington Free Beacon, read, "Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I'll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country."
When confronted by a local CBS News reporter on the campaign trail, El-Sayed addressed the controversy. "What happened on 9/11 is a disaster. It was a terrible attack on our country," he stated. "And our responsibility is also to think about, how do we build an America where we are protecting our servicemen and women from being asked to fight in wars we have no business fighting in?"
El-Sayed had previously apologized for comments made after a synagogue attack earlier in the year, stating, "To anybody who feels like my comments may have been hurtful, I’m really sorry."