Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., is facing renewed scrutiny over a string of heated exchanges with journalists after a confrontation with a Sky News reporter went viral hours before his Tuesday midterm win.
The exchange began when El-Sayed approached Sky News correspondent James Matthews and asked, “Are you registered to vote in the state of Michigan?” When Matthews said he was not, El-Sayed responded, “Why would I care to have a conversation with you?”
After Matthews identified himself as a journalist, El-Sayed scoffed, “In the U.K.” He then placed both hands on Matthews’ shoulders and said, “You know how many votes I want to get in the U.K.? Zero. I’m never running for office in the U.K.”
Matthews told El-Sayed the US midterm election “matters to the world” and noted he was “bidding to be a senator.” El-Sayed replied, “A senator in where? What country? What country?” while again putting his hands on the reporter’s shoulders, then asked, “What country are you with?”
Matthews said he was based in the United States, prompting El-Sayed to interrupt, “But you report for where? Where are your viewers?” El-Sayed dismissed the exchange after Matthews explained Sky News serves an international audience, insisting “Sky News is not viewed in the United States of America” and claiming “like five people” watch the network domestically.
“I’ve answered all the questions. I’ve answered all the questions for the viewers of the United Kingdom. So, I’m going to ask you to stop chasing me around. Please,” El-Sayed said before walking off. Matthews denied he had been chasing him. El-Sayed added, “If you keep being in my way, I’m not going to be very happy.”
A Pattern of Sharp Exchanges
The Election Day incident is the latest in a series of tense moments between El-Sayed and reporters. In October, NBC News anchor Tom Llamas questioned El-Sayed about allegations concerning his family’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed responded sharply: “It’s funny to me. I was born in 1984, down the street in Rochester Hills. I was raised here in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt the health department in this city, led the health department in this county, and you want to ask me about Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?”
He went on to accuse Llamas of relying on “hearsay evidence from a tweet” and asked, “Are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?”
That same month, Free Press reporter Audrey Fahlberg asked El-Sayed about leaked audio in which he commented on Michigan residents mourning the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. El-Sayed said he would field questions on gas prices and groceries but refused to discuss the leaked audio, accusing Fahlberg of chasing clickbait. “I’m just not interested in this dog and pony show,” he said. “Ask smart questions.” Fahlberg later said El-Sayed appeared to grow angry whenever questioned about the Iranian regime.
El-Sayed also repeatedly interrupted Fox News “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier during a discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood, and sarcastically dismissed a separate reporter’s question about Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens by saying, “You’re really asking the questions that the people want to hear.”
In a September interview with Chuck Todd, El-Sayed described wanting to confront comedian Bill Maher directly, saying, “You know how many terrible things Bill Maher has said about people like me? Terrible, awful things. I would go on that show. I wanna give people the image of watching him get his a– whooped on his own show by a guy who prays like I do.”
Reaction Split Along Familiar Lines
Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young, who has studied President Donald Trump’s long-running friction with reporters, argued the comparison between Trump and El-Sayed doesn’t hold up.
“El-Sayed gets angry at the media for asking actual questions about him and his relationship to organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. He legitimately doesn’t want to answer those questions, so he snaps,” Young told Fox News Digital. “Trump gets asked the same narrative-shaping questions all the time, then watches networks create false narratives about him on air, which makes him angry. The two are not the same.”
Footage of the Sky News confrontation drew widespread criticism over El-Sayed’s physical contact with Matthews. Piers Morgan called it “pathetic” and “very patronizing.” Reason’s Reem Ibrahim said El-Sayed “looks like an absolute p–k,” and former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy labeled him a “bully.” Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier called the behavior “unhinged,” and commentator Spencer Pratt asked, “Why is this angry little Elf Sayed so comfortable putting hands on another man like that?”
Not everyone saw a problem. Communications trainer Jocelin Martinez, who advises clients on media strategy, defended El-Sayed’s approach, pointing to his decisive win over Republican rival Mike Rogers in a race the GOP had hoped to flip.
“El-Sayed’s communication style got him elected in Michigan because the moment requires leadership with gumption,” Martinez told Fox News Digital.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Add comment