Coverage spread: 3 sources — 1 left · 2 right
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- El-Sayed is the progressive candidate in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, running against establishment-backed moderate Rep. Haley Stevens.
- El-Sayed relies on grassroots donations and refuses PAC money, while Stevens has accepted large sums from PACs including AIPAC.
- Fox News and the New York Post both report, using nearly identical detail, that a 2018 video shows El-Sayed calling the denial of driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants discriminatory.
- Polling has shown El-Sayed leading Stevens by double digits heading into the primary.
Where they differ
- Fox News centers its coverage on El-Sayed’s associations with Detroit pastor Horace Sheffield III (who once praised Louis Farrakhan) and online commentator Hasan Piker, framing them as antisemitism and patriotism concerns that could hurt Democrats.
- CBS News focuses on direct campaign-trail quotes from El-Sayed and Stevens about strategy and electability, omitting any mention of the Sheffield/Piker controversies covered by Fox.
- The New York Post’s driver’s-license story is nearly identical to Fox’s version, both leaning heavily on immigration expert Hans von Spakovsky’s warnings about licenses enabling undocumented immigrants to access services, without offering a competing viewpoint from El-Sayed’s campaign.
- Stevens’ claim that El-Sayed is using the race as a stepping stone to a presidential run appears only in CBS’s coverage, not in the Fox or Post pieces.
What’s happening in the race
Michigan Democrats vote Tuesday in a closely watched Senate primary between Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive populist and physician who lost a 2018 gubernatorial bid, and Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate recruited into the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Polling since mid-July has shown El-Sayed leading Stevens by double digits. El-Sayed is running without PAC money, funded entirely by grassroots donations, while Stevens has taken in tens of millions from PACs including AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group.
In a CBS News interview with Ed O’Keefe conducted in Detroit on the eve of the primary, El-Sayed pushed back on the idea that Michigan voters are moderates, noting the state backed Donald Trump twice. He argued that result reflects exhaustion with an “establishment bought off by corporations on both sides,” not a preference for centrism. He said he wants to build a coalition of anyone opposed to “fascism,” for getting money out of politics, for union rights, clean air and water, and guaranteed health care. Stevens countered that El-Sayed is on a “path of anger” fueled by frustration, and accused him of using the Senate race as a springboard to a presidential run, citing what she said was an already-registered campaign website. She described herself as Michigan’s “workhorse,” offering six years of unglamorous work rather than slogans and rallies.
The endorsement controversy
Separately, Fox News has highlighted that El-Sayed touted an on-air endorsement in November 2025 from Horace Sheffield III, a Detroit pastor and radio host. Fox reported that in May 2013, Sheffield gave a speech introducing Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan to a gathering of religious leaders, calling him a leader who could “give us direction” and suggesting unnamed forces were slandering him. Fox’s coverage lists a history of remarks by Farrakhan that have been widely condemned as antisemitic, including 1996 comments accusing Jews of being “wicked deceivers” who had “sucked” the blood of Americans, 1997 remarks about Jewish “influence” over the government, and a 2012 statement calling Jews “the most violent of people.” Fox also noted Farrakhan has made remarks disparaging white people. The same Fox reporting mentions El-Sayed has separately campaigned alongside online commentator Hasan Piker, who has drawn criticism for past comments about 9/11 and patriotism, with Fox noting some Democrats worry the association could cost the party swing voters in the general election.
The resurfaced driver’s license comments
Both Fox News and the New York Post published nearly identical stories on a 2018 video, from when El-Sayed was running for governor, in which he argued that denying driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants amounts to discrimination. “We’ve got to make sure that in this state we are not discriminating against documentation status,” he said, adding that undocumented residents are “stuck” without access to licenses and other basic services available to everyone else. Both outlets quote Hans von Spakovsky of Advancing American Freedom, who argues driver’s licenses function as a stand-in for a national ID in the U.S. and can open the door to bank accounts, employment eligibility paperwork (I-9 forms), and other services. Spakovsky argues that withholding such access is key to encouraging self-deportation, and that issuing licenses makes it easier for undocumented immigrants to live and work in the country.
How the coverage differs
Fox News and the New York Post frame El-Sayed’s past statements and associations — the Sheffield endorsement, the Piker appearances, and the 2018 driver’s license remarks — as vulnerabilities that could alienate Jewish voters, swing voters, or general-election moderates. Fox in particular threads these stories together as part of a broader narrative questioning El-Sayed’s judgment and coalition-building. CBS News, by contrast, focuses on the head-to-head primary dynamics, giving both El-Sayed and Stevens direct quotes about strategy, funding, and electability, without addressing the antisemitism or immigration controversies raised by Fox and the Post.
Why this matters
The primary is a test of whether a grassroots-funded progressive can beat an establishment-backed, PAC-funded moderate in a swing state that has voted for both parties in recent elections. The scrutiny of El-Sayed’s associations and past positions, combined with Stevens’ argument that he is angling for national ambitions rather than a Senate seat, previews likely lines of attack in a general election where Michigan’s electorate has shown itself willing to swing between parties.
Sources
Featured photo: Conlan Houston via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)