As you know by now, Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Mohammed El-Sayed was the beneficiary of the softest of softball interviews by NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. Corporate precedent didn’t hold up, though, when Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas came up to The Great Lakes State for a midterm special.
The special, which ran for about half of A-block, covered the usual items. There was the horse race, an affordability segment that gave Llamas sufficient cover to eat sweets on-air, and one-on-ones with the Senate candidates. And here is where Llamas broke ground.
His questions of El-Sayed featured the follow-ups that Welker dared not or refused to ask. Consider this exchange on El-Sayed’s familial affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood:
WATCH: NBC's Tom Llamas asks the basic follow-up questions Kristen Welker did not, cooks Abdul El-Sayed like shawarma over familial MoBros ties and equating Israel to Iran pic.twitter.com/TYj4xJQNPB
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 14, 2026
TOM LLAMAS: Rogers now accusing El-Sayed of lying in this interview when NBC's Kristen Welker asked about ties to the Islamist movement, the Muslim brotherhood.
KRISTEN WELKER: You don't have any ties?
ABDUL EL-SAYED: No.
WELKER: And your family doesn't?
EL-SAYED: No.
LLAMAS: But newly revealed past tweets from El-Sayed's half sister appearing to call his answer into question.
These tweets have emerged now. “Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college. #respect.”
EL-SAYED” Talking about me? Me?
LLAMAS: “My family has long been MB.” Let me finish. “Praying for all my family that supports the MB in Egypt.” Can you just explain it?
EL-SAYED: Yeah.Tom, 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 what was happening in Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?
LLAMAS: I get it, but you were asked a question. You gave an answer.
EL-SAYED: This is kind of like- This is kind of like the same- Yeah, I'm telling you, like, I have no ties. We have no ties.
LLAMAS: So your mother had no ties?
EL-SAYED: I have never had these conversations with my mother. I wasn't raised-
LLAMAS: You were- you were, you were unaware.
EL-SAYED: But- but- but- I'm just telling you that, like, you're using hearsay evidence from a tweet. Actually, it’s not serious. It's not serious. So I’m telling you. Right now…
LLAMAS: Correct. But you've also the president, you've also gone after the president for truthfulness. So when people ask you a question, they all do expect the truth.
EL-SAYED: And do you think- do you think- are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?
LLAMAS: I don't know, that's why I'm asking you.
EL-SAYED: And I'm telling you I was not.
LLAMAS: And El-Sayed has faced scrutiny over this debate answer.
RICK ALBIN: Who do you think is a bigger threat to the United States? Israel or Iran? You have 60 seconds.
EL-SAYED: And again, Rick, I'm just going to say that that's a ridiculous hypothetical.
LLAMAS: So you do think Israel is as big a threat.
(CROSSTALK)
LLAMAS: I just- I just want to nail you down on this.
EL-SAYED: When we look at- when we look at our situation…
LLAMAS: You think they're equally a threat to the U.S.?
EL-SAYED: When we look at our situation in the world, there is actively more war in the world because of what Israel is pushing us into. We should never have fought a war with Iran. Right. I agree that Iran can- is a dangerous threat. That's not- that's not a question. But I also think that when you ostensibly have an ally that's pushing you into war with the- the country that is threatening you, that does not make you any safer.
LLAMAS: You think they’re both a threat. You think they’re both a threat.
EL-SAYED: Yes. There's no- look, we pay. We- Last month alone, we paid $2.8 billion dollars for 2000-pound bombs for a foreign government.
LLAMAS: Right.
EL-SAYED: Do you- do you think that makes us safer? Is that good for us?
The fundamental difference between interviews of El-Sayed comes down to intent. As our own Tim Graham pointed out, Welker was there to facilitate El-Sayed, to “spread theatrical fog” in furtherance of his candidacy. Anything, really, except the actual work of journalism which involves asking questions that may sometimes be uncomfortable.
Llamas asked questions that were uncomfortable, and pressed for answers when El-Sayed was being combative and evasive. Imagine that. Llamas put El-Sayed on the spot both regarding the Muslim Brotherhood question, and on his debate statement equating Israel to Iran.
The interview then moved to El-Sayed’s callous remark after the terrorist attack on Temple Israel:
WATCH: Abdul El-Sayed is called out on "Hurt People Hurt People", dismisses a Jewish Democrat's "Hurt People Help People" as fanciful, offers a pro-forma apology and pivots to a talking point set piece pic.twitter.com/DOIXVvAy3h
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 14, 2026
LLAMAS: But the Rogers campaign believes this tight race could come down to a critical voting demographic. Jewish Democrats like Sarah Bennett. You're a Democrat and you're supporting Mike Rogers. Why?
SARAH BENNETT: Correct. I'm a lifelong Democrat. I don't think I've ever voted Republican, but I am a mom, a Jewish mom, and I'm voting with my heart. And I think that Mike Rogers will keep our Jewish community safe. And I don't think the same about Abdul El-Sayed.
LLAMAS: Earlier this year, a terrorist drove a car with explosives into a synagogue here that included a daycare packed with children and opened fire in what the FBI called a Hezbollah-inspired terror attack. El-Sayed then saying this about the attacker.
EL-SAYED: It was wrong, and he never should have done it. Hurt people hurt people.
LLAMAS: He later apologized after backlash. Bennett says he was making excuses for a terrorist. She showed us the sign she placed in her yard. That sign says “Hurt people help people.” So explain that.
BENNETT: Hurt people should help people make the world a better place. There is no justification for a terrorist attack.
LLAMAS: We showed a photo of her sign to El-Sayed and asked how he would respond.
EL-SAYED: Well, look. I wish it was true that hurt people always help people. I would love to live in that world. I want us to understand pain for what it is and end the cycle of violence that we see anywhere against anyone. People really fixated on those four words, and I realized that it was not the right thing to have said at the time. And so I apologize for what I said. Here's- here's the thing I want us to understand. It is important for us to understand that right now, we can either come together to save our democracy, or we can allow folks who want to rubber stamp the worst policies from Donald Trump and his agenda that is raising our prices for everything from gas to groceries. And the choice is ultimately ours.
There wasn’t as heated an exchange in comparison to the earlier video. Instead, there was an opportunity to speak beyond the usual talking points and try to put forth some conciliatory dialogue. El-Sayed did not do that, instead dismissing the Jewish woman’s idea as fanciful. El-Sayed then pivoted right back to a talking point set piece.
It is not hard to gauge how different the news cycle would be had El-Sayed encountered fearless journalists not just looking to give him a platform to spout talking points. Tom Llamas made that difference by showing that there is still room for serious journalism.
