Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., backtracked on a social media post in which he falsely attributed a controversial statement about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to Abdul El-Sayed, the newly nominated Democratic candidate for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat.

Cotton's initial post on X, formerly Twitter, stated, "Senate Democrats are ‘excited’ for Abdul El-Sayed who proudly said America deserved 9/11." He added, "The Islamic-Marxists truly are taking over the Democratic party. We must never give them power."

This claim appeared to stem from confusion with leftist influencer Hasan Piker, who is also Muslim. Piker, who has campaigned with El-Sayed, made the remark "America deserved 9/11" during a 2019 Twitch broadcast. Piker later described his comment as inappropriate, explaining he intended to refer to the consequences of U.S. foreign policy decisions.

Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate who will face El-Sayed in the Senate race, also linked the quote to El-Sayed on social media, writing, "I never in a million years thought I’d hear the words, ‘America deserved 9/11,’ but here we are. Michigan — we’ve got a state to save."

Semafor journalist David Weigel pointed out the error on X, suggesting Republicans were more interested in having El-Sayed deny the statement than in verifying its origin. Cotton subsequently updated his post to clarify that El-Sayed "proudly campaigns with extremists who say America deserved 9/11."

El-Sayed secured the Democratic nomination for the Michigan Senate seat this week, defeating moderate Democrat Haley Stevens. His association with Piker has drawn criticism from both Republicans and some Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., suggested El-Sayed's campaign could be vulnerable if he did not distance himself from Piker.

Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday secured the Democratic nomination for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat.

Democratic strategist James Carville also criticized members of the "progressive left" in a recent CNN appearance, calling some "blowhards" who alienate voters and focus on challenging other Democrats rather than Republicans.