The Free Press Issues Correction After False Claim Regarding Abdul El-Sayed’s Victory Speech

POLICY WIRE — Detroit, USA — The Free Press has issued a formal correction following a report that inaccurately asserted Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed delivered his election victory address entirely in Arabic.

The digital media outlet, established by current CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, originally shared a video on X on Wednesday. In the clip, host and reporter Maya Sulkin criticized Democratic candidates for utilizing non-English languages during their election night celebrations.

Sulkin questioned why it seemed strange to party members to address the American public in foreign tongues immediately after gaining power. She specifically highlighted El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and son of Egyptian immigrants, who secured a Senate seat on Tuesday as part of a Democratic sweep that regained control of both the House and Senate.

The video by Sulkin featured footage of El-Sayed speaking primarily in English at his Detroit celebration. While he did incorporate two Arabic phrases—noting that he usually says ‘inshaAllah’ but used ‘alhamdulillah’ to praise God that night—the speech remained in English.

Despite the evidence of El-Sayed speaking in English, Sulkin labeled the remarks as an Arabic speech. She claimed he was the first Muslim senator in US history to give such a speech, also mentioning he referred to Vice President JD Vance as ‘habibi’ and used his full Arabic name.

The post, which garnered more than a million views, was eventually flagged with a community note. The note clarified that El-Sayed used only four Arabic words, which accounted for a mere 0.27% of his remarks, excluding the idiomatic pronunciation of his name.

Two days after the video went live, The Free Press acknowledged the mistake on Friday. The outlet stated that the claim of the speech being given in Arabic was not accurate, noting that while several phrases were used, the bulk of the address was English, expressing regret for the error.

The Free Press was acquired in 2025 by Paramount Skydance, the owner of CBS News, for approximately $150 million. Since joining CBS, Weiss has faced internal criticism regarding her editorial direction toward the Trump administration and Israel, though she has defended her actions as standard duty for an editor-in-chief.

The outlet has faced further scrutiny this week after staffer Olivia Reingold admitted to using artificial intelligence to modify a photograph from a Democratic Party event. Reingold had pointed out luxury items like Chanel bags and Rolex watches to suggest a contradiction between attendee fashion and political leanings.

While Vanity Fair reported the image had been manipulated with AI, Reingold later confirmed on X that she used ChatGPT to sharpen and brighten the photo of a woman in designer shoes. Sean Fischer, the outlet’s chief of staff, defended the writer, dismissing the importance of the fashion critic critique.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)