Abdul El-Sayed Haunted After Disgusting 9/11 Posts Resurface

Two deleted posts that compare 9/11 to COVID-19 and U.S. war costs just resurfaced — and the numbers speak louder than the cleanup.

Story Snapshot

CBS News verified two deleted posts urging 9/11-level outrage for COVID-19 deaths.
A 2021 post mourned 9/11 victims, then cited deaths and damage tied to U.S. wars.
El-Sayed’s campaign scrubbed posts before July 2023 to avoid “out of context” firestorms.
Backlash split fast: critics saw minimization; allies called the coverage Islamophobic.

What CBS Verified And Why It Landed Like A Thud

CBS News reported it verified two deleted posts from Abdul El-Sayed that asked Americans to respond to COVID-19 deaths with the same resolve shown after the September 11 attacks. That matters because verification moves the debate from rumor to record. One separate, earlier post from September 11, 2021 is also central. It honored the dead from that day, then pointed to later deaths and damage linked to American wars abroad. That pairing is the spark, and it keeps catching dry grass.

The 2021 post read like an equation to many readers. It mourned “3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC,” then shifted to “~1M lives” and “infrastructural devastation” in three countries tied to the United States. People saw the pivot and drew their own lines. Some called it context. Many called it a moral comparison that flattens evil and consequence into the same bucket. CBS pointed to the Washington Free Beacon as the first to flag that post.

Deletion, Timing, And The Cost Of Scrubbing

El-Sayed’s campaign said it removed posts older than July 2023 so old remarks would not get ripped from context during a race. That is common digital hygiene, but it also invites suspicion in a campaign season. Voters over 40 have seen this movie. Delete, then explain, then debate the meaning of the delete. CBS said the campaign did not say when these posts were wiped, which fuels questions about intent and timing in the news cycle.

Media outlets pounced along their usual lines. Fox News and the New York Post framed the posts as a comparison that downplayed 9/11 and trashed America’s response. The Intercept argued CBS cherry-picked and left out that some posts urged saving lives instead of taking them. This is the ecosystem we have built. Engagement rewards the hottest take, not the fairest read. Once numbers and 9/11 appear in the same breath, the algorithm writes the headline for you.

What El-Sayed Says Now, And What That Signals

El-Sayed says he has always condemned terrorism and the September 11 attacks. He called 9/11 a disaster and “a terrible attack on our country.” He says his aim was to prevent future wars and protect American service members from missions “we have no business fighting in.” That is a clean statement of values. It still leaves the earlier framing to answer for, because public memory latches onto the first draft, not the cleaned-up press line.

Abdul El-Sayed deleted 11 tweets from 2020-2022 that downplayed 9/11 and equated America’s response with terror attacks.

— Brad Berkowitz (@BradBerkowitz) September 3, 2026

Critics argue that grief for the murdered and anger at the murderers is not a currency you trade to score a broader point. They also argue that equating deliberate mass murder with later policy failures mixes categories that should stay separate. That aligns with a common-sense, conservative instinct: name evil for what it is, then debate policy on its own terms. If you blend them, people will hear a discount on the evil, no matter your intent. That is the price of the rhetorical shortcut.

The Pattern You Know And How To Read It

This fight fits a familiar pattern. Old posts surface. Verification lands. Allies cry foul at the coverage. The subject clarifies intent and condemns the worst reading. The story then becomes a test of tone, not just facts. Social media’s reward system makes this worse, because outrage multiplies faster than nuance. If candidates want space to argue policy, they must stop writing like activists on days that demand solemn clarity.

Two takeaways will outlast the noise. First, numbers matter, but timing matters more. September 11 is a day to honor the fallen and the heroes who ran toward fire. Second, deletion is not a strategy; it is a dare to your opponents to define you. If the goal is to lead, set your standard in plain words you can defend in a decade. On this story, the verified record exists, and so does the walk-back. Voters will decide which one sounds like the real voice.