The Bari Weiss-run CBS News sparked uproar Monday after publishing a report with what critics described as an “absolutely disgusting” headline involving a progressive Muslim Democrat and the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The fact that this headline had to go through multiple rounds of checks and eyes and yall still ran it shows how little representation you have in your newsroom and how disgustingly xenophobic you are as an institution,” wrote progressive political content creator and writer Ariana Jasmine in a social media post. “Absolutely disgusting.”
Early Monday morning, CBS News published a report about Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed with the headline: “For Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, Sept. 11 commemoration invites scrutiny of past remarks.” In the report, CBS News’ Zak Hudak flagged two now-deleted online posts of El-Sayed’s referencing the 9/11 attacks.
One 2020 post saw El-Sayed compare “the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on Sept. 11 to the mounting COVID-19 death toll and argued for a response commensurate with the nation's post-9/11 mobilization,” CBS News reported, and another saw El-Sayed criticize the United States’ response to 9/11, which included the U.S. invasion of Iraq that was launched on false pretenses.
CBS News appears to have since altered its headline for the report, as can be seen in social media posts preserving its original headline, though that did not stop an onslaught of scrutiny from countless critics.
“What an insane headline,” wrote prominent progressive streamer and activist Hasan Piker. “This is why the Ellison’s bought cbs and put Bari Weiss in charge.”
Weiss cozied up to billionaires in her ascent to CBS’ top leadership role, including the family of billionaire David Ellison, whose company owns CBS News. She’s also previously said she considered it her “job as an outspoken Jewish Zionist” to be “defending Israel” — a personal position directly at odds with El-Sayed’s fierce criticism of Israel’s military siege on Gaza, which he and countless human rights organizations have called a genocide.
Former Democratic congressional candidate and media personality Krystal Ball called the report’s original headline “deranged,” Georgia Democratic state Rep. Ruwa Romman called it “mask off anti-Muslim bigotry,” and The Bulwark’s Tim Miller called it “despicable anti-Muslim woke right garbage.”
The Nation’s Jeet Heer called out Weiss directly for the headline’s creation.
“To be clear… the Bari Weiss project is to revive post-9/11 Islamophobia in mainstream politics,” Heer wrote. “These are profoundly illiberal people, who should be combatted not just by the left and progressives but anyone committed to civil equality.”
Far-right political commentator Ben Shapiro, however, championed the headline with a snide remark targeting El-Sayed.
“Well well well if it isn't the consequences of his own actions,” Shapiro wrote.
The fact that this headline had to go through multiple rounds of checks and eyes and yall still ran it shows how little representation you have in your newsroom and how disgustingly xenophobic you are as an institution
Absolutely disgusting
— Ariana Jasmine (@arianajasmine__) August 31, 2026