CBS News’ Bari Weiss Faces Backlash Over Headline Linking Muslim Senate Candidate to 9/11
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is facing renewed criticism after personally reworking the headline of an article about Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, which critics say wrongly implied he had ties to the September 11 attacks. The story, written by producer Zak Hudak, examined old tweets El-Sayed had deleted, and Weiss reportedly praised the piece before changing its headline to explicitly reference the attacks, prompting accusations that she had turned a minor story into something far more inflammatory. The row adds to mounting scrutiny of Weiss's editorial judgement since she took charge of CBS News, and follows a separate controversy in July over the network's coverage of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The original headline referred to "Sept. 11 commemoration" prompting scrutiny of El-Sayed's past remarks, but Weiss changed it to highlight his "deleted tweets on Sept. 11 attacks". The two tweets in question, posted during the Covid-19 pandemic, actually compared the pandemic's death toll to that of 9/11 to argue for a similarly robust public health response, rather than expressing any sympathy for terrorism. El-Sayed's campaign said he has "always unequivocally condemned terrorism" and accused his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, of spreading "bad-faith lies". Weiss, who founded The Free Press and was appointed to CBS News last year by David Ellison, has previously faced criticism for lacking broadcast experience and for spiking segments seen as critical of the Trump administration.
In short
- Bari Weiss altered a CBS headline linking a Muslim candidate to 9/11.
- Critics say old tweets were mischaracterised as insensitive to 9/11.
- El-Sayed's campaign denies any sympathy for terrorism, blasts rival's "lies".
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A headline should make a politically relevant story clear, and the deleted tweets’ explicit comparison with the September 11 attacks may justify naming the attacks rather than relying on the less specific phrase “Sept. 11 commemoration”. Weiss could argue that sharper wording helps readers understand what the article examines, provided it accurately describes the tweets and does not imply support for terrorism.
The case against
Because the tweets compared death tolls to argue for a stronger public health response, foregrounding the attacks could lead readers to infer a connection to terrorism that the article does not support. Critics can reasonably argue that an editor’s sharper wording risks distorting the story and unfairly damaging a candidate’s reputation, particularly when the original headline more clearly framed the remarks as a commemoration.
Explained simply
Abdul El-Sayed is a Democratic politician running for the US Senate in Michigan, where he is challenging Republican Mike Rogers. The dispute concerns old social media posts El-Sayed wrote during the Covid-19 pandemic, comparing its death toll with the number of people killed in the September 11 attacks.
Bari Weiss is editor-in-chief of CBS News, the US television network’s news division. She founded The Free Press and was appointed to lead CBS News by its owner, David Ellison; her editorial decisions have drawn scrutiny since she took the role.
The row has raised questions about how news headlines can shape readers’ understanding of a candidate’s past remarks. It also comes amid wider debate over Weiss’s editorial judgement and CBS News’s coverage of political figures.