Politics
CBS News faces scrutiny over headline edit regarding Abdul El-Sayed's deleted posts
Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss reportedly ordered a headline change on a story highlighting the Michigan Senate candidate's past remarks.
The short version
- CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss reportedly praised a story examining Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's deleted social media posts and directed a headline revision to explicitly highlight his deleted tweets regarding Sept. 11.
- The article focused on El-Sayed's removed posts, including COVID-19 pandemic comparisons to 9/11 casualty numbers and anti-poverty calls.
- Critics and liberal commentators accused the network of misrepresenting the candidate and employing unfair framing, while conservative media figures defended the intervention as standard editorial oversight.
- CBS News did not immediately comment on the editorial decision.
Key facts
- Status News reported that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss personally directed that a headline be changed to specifically mention Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's deleted tweets regarding the Sept. 11 attacks.[The Hollywood Reporter · Fox News]
- The final published CBS News headline read: 'Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's deleted tweets on Sept. 11 attacks invite scrutiny of past remarks.'[The Hollywood Reporter · Fox News]
- The deleted social media posts featured in the report included 2020 statements by El-Sayed comparing COVID-19 casualty numbers to 9/11 and advocating for public health investments comparable to post-9/11 mobilizations.[The Hollywood Reporter · Fox News]
- A spokesperson for El-Sayed stated that the candidate has always unequivocally condemned terrorism and the September 11 attacks, and accused his opponent Mike Rogers of spreading bad-faith falsehoods.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- When asked by a reporter on the campaign trail, El-Sayed called 9/11 a terrible attack and stated that leadership must protect service members from unjustified foreign conflicts.[Fox News]
What remains uncertain
- CBS News leadership has not formally released an on-the-record public comment addressing the internal meeting deliberations reported by outside outlets.[Fox News]