CBS News came under criticism from far-left circles on Monday following a report about past remarks made by Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, concerning 9/11. The controversy emerged as the nation prepared to observe the 25th anniversary of the tragic events.

The report from CBS highlighted El-Sayed’s now-deleted social media posts. In 2020, he compared the nearly 3,000 American deaths on 9/11 to those resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Another post from September 11, 2021, discovered by The Washington Free Beacon, stated, “Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I’ll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country.”

The CBS News article ignited outrage among El-Sayed’s supporters and other liberal critics, who saw the mention of 9/11 as an unfair portrayal. Hasan Piker, a far-left commentator, expressed on X, “What an insane headline.” He attributed the issue to the new ownership and editorial decisions at CBS.

Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo and former MSNBC host, questioned CBS’s editorial choices. He asked if it was disrespectful and Islamophobic to frame a potential first Muslim Democratic senator with a reference to 9/11.

Tim Miller from The Bulwark and others criticized the CBS piece, labeling it “anti-Muslim” and “woke right garbage.” Astead Herndon from Vox commented on the broader media landscape, noting a loss of credibility and deterioration of the information ecosystem.

A CBS News insider defended the report, explaining to Fox News Digital that political figures’ deleted social media posts are regular topics of reporting. El-Sayed himself addressed the controversy during his campaign, acknowledging the tragedy of 9/11 and emphasizing the need to avoid unnecessary wars.