CBS reporter deletes post calling out El-Sayed on 'spectacular self own' on Muslim Brotherhood question

Abdul El-Sayed, US Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, speaks during the Michigan Democratic Party's 2026 nominating convention in Lansing, Michigan, US, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford deleted an X post that appeared to attack Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over his viral response to a question on the Muslim Brotherhood.

During a town hall on Saturday, El-Sayed responded to a voter named Tommy who asked him whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood after reports about El-Sayed's alleged family connections to the organization.

"Sure," El-Sayed said. "Yeah, absolutely. But I want to ask the question that you're asking: Why are you asking the question?"

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, has faced scrutiny over his family's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

This led to El-Sayed accusing Tommy of assuming that he held "dual loyalties" because of his Muslim background.

"Why would you actually think that about me? Why would you actually think that? Why would you? Have you asked everybody in your life if they disavow them [the Muslim Brotherhood]? So why are you asking me?" El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed later shared a clip of the interaction with his followers.

"This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his," El-Sayed wrote.

Crawford was initially critical of El-Sayed's response, suggesting that Tommy succeeded in "triggering" the candidate.

Jan Crawford deleted a post criticizing Abdul El-Sayed's performance at a recent town hall. (Screenshot/X)

"Tommy, thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's nanosecond 'yeah absolutely' response. His subsequent uninterrupted three-minute diatribe proving your exact point is the kind of spectacular self own most ppl only dream about triggering. Congrats," Crawford wrote.

US Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed spoke with a voter named "Tommy" at a townhall on Saturday night, who pressed him to disavow the terrorist group, the Muslim Brotherhood. (JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images)

By Sunday, however, Crawford deleted the post, adding in another post that it was a "violation" of her network's standards.

"Earlier, I tweeted a video from an Abdul El-Sayed town hall. I deleted that tweet because it was a violation of CBS News standards. I apologize," Crawford wrote.

The initial post sparked backlash from pundits and analysts on the left, several of whom called for Crawford to be fired.

"No Jan — you got caught red handed trying to help prop up a paid GOP operative who was there to spread false, racist lies about Abdul because he is Muslim. Shame on you," Democratic consultant Karen Finney replied to Crawford.

"She SHOULD be fired, but it's CBS news, so she'll get promoted," progressive commentator and Democratic strategist Ketih Edwards wrote.

"This woman endorsing a GOP operative’s smear campaign against @AbdulElSayedis apparently a ‘straight news’ CBS reporter. This is what David Ellison paid for. This is what Bari Weiss delivered," Zeteo CEO Mehdi Hasan posted.

CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford deleted the tweet, saying it was against network standards. (Screenshot/CBS)

A CBS News spokesperson cited Crawford’s statement and declined to comment further.

Curtis Houck, managing editor of media watchdog NewsBusters, told Fox News Digital that those calling for Crawford to be fired over the post "need to grow up."

"The double standard is glaring. Reporters from CNN, MS NOW, The New York Times, and Washington Post tweet all kinds of incendiary hot takes on the daily, and none of the elitist media defenders bat an eye. But for someone at Bari Weiss's CBS News to call out the tone of a Democrat? It's unforgivable. Jan should be allowed to speak her mind and has earned it as one of the few actual journalists on the networks, in addition to a long career covering the Supreme Court, and earned the trust of the justices. Team Bari Weiss needs to tell these people calling for Jan's job to shove it," he continued.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed's campaign for comment.

El-Sayed's campaign has referred to claims about his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood "racist and untrue." (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images)

For the past few weeks, El-Sayed has faced questions over allegations that his family had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. In a previous statement to Fox News, his campaign called these allegations "racist and untrue."

However, El-Sayed confirmed to Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin on Saturday that his sister-in-law, Mariam Jukaku, was involved in a federal terrorist watchlist lawsuit in 2016.

"She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off," El-Sayed said. "You've got this system where folks are guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like Mike Rogers set up."