Abdul El-Sayed's pattern of hostile exchanges with reporters draws scrutiny after viral moment
Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., went viral this week for his latest altercation with a reporter, putting a spotlight on a history of tense exchanges with the press.
El-Sayed had a combative exchange with Sky News reporter James Matthews just hours before his victory in Tuesday's midterm elections. The exchange began when the British journalist attempted to question El-Sayed, but it was hardly the first time El-Sayed appeared to either lose his temper, interrupt a journalist or respond sharply to a reporter.
Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young is well aware that President Donald Trump also has a long history of criticizing reporters, but he believes the situations are "completely different."
"El-Sayed gets angry at the media for asking actual questions about him and his relationship to organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. He legitimately doesn’t want to answer those questions, so he snaps," Young told Fox News Digital.
"Trump gets asked the same narrative-shaping questions all the time, then watches networks create false narratives about him on air, which makes him angry," Young continued. "The two are not the same."
El-Sayed recently scolded a reporter for asking him about Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, sarcastically declaring, "You’re really asking the questions that the people want to hear."
"Ask me a serious question," he added.
El-Sayed also got testy with NBC News anchor Tom Llamas in October after Llamas questioned him about allegations involving his family's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
"It’s funny to me. I was born in 1984, down the street in Rochester Hills. I was raised here in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt the health department in this city, led the health department in this county, and you want to ask me about Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?" he retorted.
El-Sayed then accused Llamas of using "hearsay evidence from a tweet" and suggested the "NBC Nightly News" anchor was "not serious" before asking, "Are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?"
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That same month, El-Sayed shut down Free Press reporter Audrey Fahlberg for asking about private comments he made on leaked audio regarding some Michigan residents mourning the death of Ayatollah Khamenei.
El-Sayed insisted he would answer questions about gas prices and groceries but declined to "talk about leaked audio" and accused Fahlberg of seeking clickbait.
"I’m just not interested in this dog and pony show," El-Sayed said. "Ask smart questions."
Fahlberg responded that his thoughts on Khamenei were relevant considering he frequently discusses foreign policy, but El-Sayed refused to engage.
Fahlberg later said El-Sayed appeared to become furious whenever asked about the Iranian regime.
Weeks later, El-Sayed clashed with Fox News "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier, repeatedly interrupting Baier during an exchange over the Muslim Brotherhood.
El-Sayed has also spoken about confronting media personalities.
"You know how many terrible things Bill Maher has said about people like me? Terrible, awful things," El-Sayed said during a September interview with Chuck Todd.
"I would go on that show," El-Sayed continued. "I wanna give people the image of watching him get his a-- whooped on his own show by a guy who prays like I do."
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As for El-Sayed’s latest encounter, the viral Election Day moment occurred when he walked up to Matthews and asked, "Are you registered to vote in the state of Michigan?"
"I'm not," the British U.S.-based correspondent responded.
"Why would I care to have a conversation with you?" the Democrat fired back.
After Matthews answered that he was a journalist, El-Sayed scoffed while responding, "In the U.K."
"You know how many votes I want to get in the U.K.? Zero," El-Sayed told Mathews as he put both his hands on the reporter's shoulders. "I'm never running for office in the U.K."
Matthews stressed that the 2026 U.S. midterm election "matters to the world" and told El-Sayed he was "bidding to be a senator."
"A senator in where? What country? What country?" El-Sayed replied while placing his hands on Matthews' shoulders again.
"The United States," Matthews answered.
"What country are you with?" El-Sayed then asked.
"I'm based in the United States," Matthews said.
"But you report for where? Where are your viewers?" El-Sayed interrupted.
El-Sayed dismissed Matthews after the reporter explained that Sky News serves an international audience, insisting "Sky News is not viewed in the United States of America," then sneering that "like five people" watch the network in the U.S.
"I've answered all the questions. I've answered all the questions for the viewers of the United Kingdom. So, I'm going to ask you to stop chasing me around. Please," El-Sayed said before walking away. Matthews denied to El-Sayed he was "chasing" him around.
"If you keep being in my way, I'm not going to be very happy," El-Sayed told the reporter.
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Footage of the incident quickly went viral, and many observers criticized El-Sayed for physically touching the reporter. Piers Morgan called it "pathetic" and "very patronizing."
Reason’s Reem Ibrahim said El-Sayed "looks like an absolute p---k" and former Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levy called him a "bully."
Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier called the behavior "unhinged," while Spencer Pratt asked, "Why is this angry little Elf Sayed so comfortable putting hands on another man like that?"
Communications trainer Jocelin Martinez, who provides media training and message development to clients, doesn’t feel El-Sayed needs to change his approach after he crushed Republican rival Mike Rogers in the critical Senate race for a seat Republicans were hoping to flip this election cycle.
"El-Sayed's communication style got him elected in Michigan because the moment requires leadership with gumption," Martinez told Fox News Digital.
The El-Sayed campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.