In August 2026, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers accused Michigan Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed of believing that the United States deserved the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The accusation followed El-Sayed’s victory in the Democratic primary and was amplified through political statements and social media. However, the available evidence does not support attributing the statement to El-Sayed. The controversy stems from a remark made by political commentator Hasan Piker in 2019. Although Piker campaigned alongside El-Sayed in 2026, there is no evidence that El-Sayed made the same statement. Moreover, El-Sayed explicitly rejected the idea that the September 11 attacks were justified.

Who actually made the statement?

On August 21, 2019, Piker made the remark during a livestream on Twitch while responding to comments by Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw about American foreign policy and the causes of the September 11 attacks. Piker said, “America deserved 9/11, dude.” The statement attracted widespread criticism, and Twitch suspended him for one week. Piker subsequently addressed the controversy in an interview with Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks’ program The Conversation. Asked whether he meant that America deserved the attacks, Piker replied, “No, obviously not.” He argued that American foreign policy, including support for armed groups and efforts that destabilized the Middle East, had consequences that contributed to the conditions surrounding the attacks. He also said he opposed violence and acknowledged that his wording had been inappropriate. Piker’s explanation provides context for his remark, but it does not change the identity of the person who made it. The original statement was Piker’s, not El-Sayed’s.

What did El-Sayed say?

El-Sayed did campaign with Piker in April 2026, and their association became a subject of political controversy. At a campaign event, a reporter asked El-Sayed whether there were any views held by Piker that he disavowed. El-Sayed responded that he was not there to disavow people’s views and criticized what he described as “gotcha” questions and “cancel culture.” Rogers’ campaign later cited this exchange as part of its justification for the accusation. However, the exchange did not establish that El-Sayed personally believed America deserved the September 11 attacks. He had already addressed that specific issue in an interview with Fox News’ Fox & Friends on April 7, 2026, the same day as his campaign appearances with Piker. Asked about Piker’s controversial remarks, El-Sayed said, “Of course I don’t think 9/11 was justified.” He added that appearing with someone does not mean agreeing with that person on everything. In an August 9 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, El-Sayed again rejected the statement, calling it a “dumb statement” and saying, “America didn’t deserve 9/11.” These direct statements are important because they address the precise belief attributed to him. His reluctance to condemn every aspect of an associate’s public record is a separate political issue and does not establish that he shares that associate’s past statements.

What evidence supports the accusation?

In its August 2026 investigation, Snopes reported that searches of Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo found no evidence that El-Sayed had said America deserved the attacks. The investigation also found no corroborating report of the alleged quotation from major news organizations such as Reuters, The Associated Press or Bloomberg. The absence of media coverage alone cannot prove that a statement was never made, but it does not provide support for the accusation. FactCheck.org likewise reported that Rogers had provided no evidence for his claim. According to its investigation, the Rogers campaign pointed to a video in which El-Sayed declined to disavow Piker’s comments at a campaign event. PolitiFact independently examined the accusation and found that Rogers had attributed another person’s seven-year-old statement to El-Sayed. It rated Rogers’ claim “Pants on Fire,” its strongest false rating. The evidence therefore distinguishes three separate facts: Piker made the original remark in 2019; El-Sayed campaigned with Piker in 2026; and El-Sayed explicitly said that the September 11 attacks were not justified. The first two facts do not establish the accusation, while the third directly contradicts it.

Conclusion

The claim that Abdul El-Sayed said he believed America deserved the September 11 attacks is false. The documented quotation belongs to Hasan Piker, not El-Sayed. Although El-Sayed faced criticism for his association with Piker and his response to questions about their political relationship, the available evidence does not show that he made or endorsed the statement. His own recorded comments explicitly reject the proposition that the attacks were justified. Political candidates can reasonably be questioned about their associates and their responses to controversial remarks. Such questions, however, should not be presented as proof that a candidate expressed a belief for which there is no supporting evidence.

Sources

• Snopes: Did Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed say he believes America deserved 9/11? There’s no proof

• Snopes: 4 claims about Abdul El-Sayed, examined

• FactCheck.org: Rogers Makes False 9/11 Claim About El-Sayed

• PolitiFact: In Michigan Senate race, Mike Rogers falsely ties Abdul El-Sayed to Twitch streamer’s 9/11 comments