It's two weeks away from the midterms, and judging from much of their coverage, the liberal media seems to believe they need to push Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed over the finish line, in order to take control of the U.S. Senate. On CNN's Inside Politics Sunday from Washington, Chief National Security Correspondent Jeff Zeleny seemed to loss sight of this, but he more than made up for it hours later on CNN's Newsroom.
Saturday, at a town hall in Caro, Michigan, El-Sayed was asked whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, and gave a dismissive answer of, "Sure. Yeah, absolutely", before turning the tables on the questioner and pressing him on why he would ask such a question. Inside Politics Sunday host Manu Raju played the question and then a small portion of El-Sayed's response.
CLIP OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?
EL-SAYED: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. You're asking the question because implicitly you assume that I'll have dual loyalties, right? You assume that somehow I wouldn't disavow or that I'll have some higher order allegiance than to the Constitution. For me, that Constitution is the guiding light.
Raju first turned to CNN Analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs, with a surprising question.
RAJU: How do you think, Zolan, he has handled these questions through the course of this campaign? Here he was. He tried to go after this voter who was asking him a question. Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?
KANNO-YOUNGS: That's right. Concern from Jewish voters as well. I think we can also state that and that there is concern there.
And then also state that also there has been a lot of attacks as well from the Republican Party that has dipped into Islamophobia as well, you know, specifying full name as well, trying to make these --
RAJU: Trump calling him Mohammed.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Right, right. Trump calling --
RAJU: His name is Abdul.
Next up, Zeleny, and take note of how he characterized the Muslim Brotherhood question.
ZELENY: I mean, it was an interesting question, no doubt, but I think his answer is something that he is trying to get over a hurdle of saying, look, he's an American.
I mean, he is a Michigander. He supports the U.S. Constitution, but there are a lot of ugly questions out there that are being fomented by the other side and other questions in general, just about El-Sayed.
Zeleny called the question interesting. He said there are a lot of ugly questions out there, about El-Sayed. He never said that El-Sayed has denounced the Muslim Brotherhood, something he would do hours later, from Michigan, during the 6pm edition of CNN Newsroom, hosted by Jessica Dean.
DEAN: In Michigan, one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, has turned into a major test for progressive Democrats in that key battleground state. The race could also have major implications for which party controls the Senate.
After playing a clip of Trump mocking El-Sayed's name and calling him a jihadist, she played one from GOP candidate Mike Rogers.
ROGERS: What has become the issue is his relationship and his family relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in five Muslim countries. You know, he wants to play the victim. This is not about that....I mean, he has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
DEAN: El-Sayed has disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood in interviews.
Dean did not play a clip to prove her point, nor did she address Rogers's reference to El-Sayed and his family's alleged relationship to the Muslim Brotherhood. She also ignored the revelation that El-Sayed has acknowledged that his sister-in-law was involved in a federal terrorist watchlist, as she brought in Zeleny., who would eventually address the Muslim Brotherhood issue, and it was quite a different take from earlier in the morning.
ZELENY: But clearly, Abdul El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim U.S. senator if elected, he has strongly condemned the Muslim Brotherhood. He did it again this afternoon talking to reporters.
Whoa! When did El-Sayed "strongly condemn" the Muslim Brotherhood? It wasn't during the confrontation at the town hall. It wasn't during a Saturday interview with Ali Velshi on MS NOW. (see 4 minutes into the video) It wasn't last Wednesday with NBC, or two Sundays ago on Meet The Press.
Considering all of the controversy, if CNN had access to video of El-Sayed talking to reporters on Sunday, or at anytime, "strongly condemning" the Muslim Brotherhood, shouldn't it have been played for viewers? And why didn't Zeleny make this claim during his earlier hit on Sunday? This is CNN!
