A CNN interview with Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed turned contentious Thursday after anchor Kasie Hunt repeatedly questioned him about previously deleted social media posts related to defunding the police, prompting the candidate to accuse the network of focusing on “clickbait” instead of issues affecting Michigan voters.
The tense exchange unfolded after Hunt raised the subject of El-Sayed’s deleted tweets, arguing that his past statements on policing could become an issue in a general election if he wins the Democratic primary.
“I also wanted to ask you about some of the tweets that you deleted as you were, you know, in the course of this race just before, around this question of defunding the police,” Hunt said. “Do you stand by what you had previously said… in support of defunding the police? Or do you believe police should be funded?”
Rather than directly answering the question, El-Sayed pointed to his record leading Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veteran Services.
He said one of his responsibilities was rebuilding a juvenile detention facility and noted that he raised workers’ salaries by 35% to address what he described as a public health emergency.
“So judge me by my work rather than some deleted tweets,” El-Sayed said.
Hunt immediately followed up by asking why he had deleted the posts.
El-Sayed responded that he removed all of the tweets because he did not want them to be taken out of context and used to distract from what he said were the issues Michigan residents actually care about.
“I deleted all the tweets because I didn’t want them to be taken out of context like this so that you could distract from the actual conversation that Michiganders really want to have,” he said.
Hunt then returned to the central question.
“Well, I think the question is just, if you’re leading, would you fight to defund the police or would you not?” she asked.
El-Sayed again declined to give a direct yes-or-no answer, instead pointing back to his work overseeing the juvenile detention facility.
He argued that debates framed solely around funding or defunding police miss a broader discussion about what kind of public safety system communities should have.
According to El-Sayed, that includes investing in law enforcement recruitment and retirement while also supporting community violence intervention, behavioral health response, public health initiatives and anti-poverty programs.
He said those priorities are not mutually exclusive.
El-Sayed then criticized CNN’s focus on his deleted social media posts, suggesting the discussion was designed to generate attention rather than address issues important to Michigan voters.
“And I think this debate about 2020, and the ways that tweets are going to play, are really nice on CNN if you want to get clicks,” he said. “They’re not that effective, and nobody really asks me about them on the streets or in communities in Michigan.”
He added that voters were more interested in topics such as housing, health care and what he described as corporate dominance in politics.
Hunt, however, continued pressing him over the deleted tweets.
“So voters shouldn’t look at the fact that you deleted the tweets as evidence that you no longer support the things that you said?” she asked.
El-Sayed responded by saying Hunt might consider the issue important, but maintained that he was speaking about what he hears from voters across Michigan.
When Hunt emphasized that she was asking specifically about his decision to delete the posts, El-Sayed again shifted the conversation back to his record in public service.
“I’m talking about the action that I took to actually fund the juvenile detention facility to make sure that youth in that facility were safe,” he said.
He concluded by arguing that his actions in office mattered more than old social media posts, while reiterating that he believes Michigan voters are more focused on issues such as housing, schools and keeping tax dollars in their communities than on debates over deleted tweets.
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