Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’ 9/11 attacks
The Michigan Senate candidate called the comment a ‘dumb statement’ but continues to campaign with Piker
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’ 9/11 attacks
Photograph: KATU (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, called Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that the U.S. ‘deserved’ the 9/11 attacks a ‘dumb statement’ during an NBC News interview on 10 August 2026.
- Piker, a Twitch streamer and political commentator, said his comment was intended as criticism of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, not an endorsement of the attacks. He later disavowed the remark.
- El-Sayed has continued to appear with Piker at campaign events, including a Detroit gathering for content creators supporting his candidacy last week.
- Right-rated outlets emphasised the controversy over the 2019 remark and El-Sayed’s association with Piker, while centre-rated reports focused on the disavowal itself.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 14 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 15 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
87/100
Hype
30/100
15 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 14 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, publicly dismissed a 2019 comment by Twitch streamer Hasan Piker that the U.S. ‘deserved’ the 9/11 terrorist attacks. El-Sayed called the remark a ‘dumb statement’ during an interview on NBC News’s ‘Meet the Press’ on 10 August 2026. He added that Piker himself would likely describe the comment the same way and had disavowed it.
Piker made the remark in a 2019 video, later explaining on the left-wing talk show *The Young Turks* that he was criticising U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He said his comment was meant to highlight the consequences of U.S. involvement in the region, including the arming of insurgent groups and efforts to destabilise governments. El-Sayed has continued to campaign with Piker despite the controversy, including at a Detroit event last week for content creators supporting his candidacy.
What the coverage left out
No left-rated outlet ran this story. None of the right-rated digests mentioned Piker’s explanation that his 2019 comment was intended as criticism of U.S. foreign policy, nor did they include his disavowal of the remark. The centre-rated reports did not address Republican criticism of El-Sayed’s association with Piker or the fact-checking of Mike Rogers’ statement.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 11 Aug 2026, 22:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The two centre-rated reports, published by KATU and KFOX, led on El-Sayed’s disavowal of Piker’s remark. Both outlets quoted El-Sayed’s description of the comment as a ‘dumb statement’ and included Piker’s explanation that he was referencing U.S. foreign policy. Neither report framed the association with Piker as a campaign liability or suggested it could harm El-Sayed’s electoral prospects. The reports noted that El-Sayed had maintained a working relationship with Piker despite attempts by critics to resurrect the 2019 remark.
Right
12 rated outlets
- The 12 right-rated digests led on the controversy surrounding Piker’s 2019 remark and El-Sayed’s association with him. Several digests highlighted Republican criticism of El-Sayed for campaigning with Piker, including a ‘Pants on Fire’ fact-check rating from PolitiFact targeting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers for stating that El-Sayed ‘believes America deserved 9/11.’ The digests from Fox News, The Western Journal, and Hot Air framed El-Sayed’s disavowal as reluctant or insufficient, noting that he had previously declined to condemn Piker’s comment. The Western Journal quoted El-Sayed saying he was focused on ‘who I’m campaigning to’ rather than who he campaigns with.
- Breitbart’s digest focused on a separate controversy involving Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who accused El-Sayed of suggesting she ‘deserved to be threatened’ over concerns about the state’s Democratic Convention. This angle was not covered by any other outlet in the sample.
Read it at the source
15 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
2Right
12- MI A.G. Nessel: El-Sayed Saying 'Perhaps I Deserve to Be Threatened' (opens Breitbart in a new tab)
- 'Fact Checkers' POUNCE on Mike Rogers Over 'America Deserved 9/11' Note (opens NewsBusters in a new tab)
NewsBusters — is NewsBusters biased? Our profile of this outlet
- El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker's 9/11 comments but decries 'cancel culture' (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- Senate hopeful El-Sayed dismisses Hasan Piker's 9/11 comments: 'Dumb statement' (opens WGXA in a new tab)
- Senate hopeful El-Sayed dismisses Hasan Piker's 9/11 comments: 'Dumb statement' (opens The National Desk in a new tab)
The National Desk — is The National Desk biased? Our profile of this outlet
- El Sayed disavows Hasan Piker's controversial 9/11 comments (opens Washington Examiner in a new tab)
Washington Examiner — is Washington Examiner biased? Our profile of this outlet
- El-Sayed Says He's Fine Campaigning With Hasan 'America Deserved 9/11' Piker, Says He's Focused on Who 'I'm Campaigning To' (opens The Western Journal in a new tab)
The Western Journal — is The Western Journal biased? Our profile of this outlet
- NBC finally asks El-Sayed the Hasan Piker question he can’t dodge (opens Bizpac Review in a new tab)
Bizpac Review — is Bizpac Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 4 more
- NBC finally asks El-Sayed the Hasan Piker question he can't dodge · American Wire News (opens American Wire News in a new tab)
American Wire News — is American Wire News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- NBC finally asks El-Sayed the Hasan Piker question he can’t dodge (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Too Fun to Check: El-Sayed Refuses to Renounce Hasan 'America Deserved 9/11' Piker (opens Hot Air in a new tab)
- 9/11 COMMENTS: El-Sayed Disavows Hasan Piker’s Claim That America “Deserved” Attacks (opens Yeshiva World News in a new tab)
Yeshiva World News — is Yeshiva World News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
1Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’…?
- Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 15. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’… left or right?
- The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 86% of the 14 rated outlets on it are rated right — so far this is a story carried mostly by the right. Coverage is still arriving and that can change, which is why the figure is dated rather than fixed.
- Is the coverage of Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’… biased?
- Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’ 9/11 attacks is one event reported by 15 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Abdul El-Sayed disavows Hasan Piker’s 2019 remark that US ‘deserved’…?
- 15 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Hasan Piker say about the 9/11 attacks?
- In 2019, Hasan Piker said the U.S. ‘deserved’ the 9/11 attacks, later explaining he meant to criticise U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He disavowed the remark after backlash. Abdul El-Sayed called the comment a ‘dumb statement’ during an NBC News interview on 10 August 2026.
- Why is Abdul El-Sayed’s association with Hasan Piker controversial?
- El-Sayed has continued to campaign with Piker despite the 2019 remark, drawing criticism from Republicans. Right-rated outlets emphasised the controversy, while centre-rated reports focused on El-Sayed’s disavowal of the comment without framing it as a campaign liability.
- Did any outlets fact-check claims about El-Sayed’s stance on 9/11?
- PolitiFact rated Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers’ statement that El-Sayed ‘believes America deserved 9/11’ as ‘Pants on Fire.’ The fact-check was mentioned in right-rated digests but not in centre-rated reports.
How did this read?
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