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Michigan Dem Abdul El-Sayed wants Bill Maher to get his 'a-- whooped' if invited on show

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Kornick, L. (2026, September 29). Michigan Dem Abdul El-Sayed wants Bill Maher to get his 'a-- whooped' if invited on show. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/michigan-dem-abdul-el-sayed-wants-bill-maher-get-his-ass-whooped-invited-show

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Fox News · collected 2026-09-29 · by Lindsay Kornick

Quick Summary

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told Chuck Todd on Friday that he would want to appear on comedian Bill Maher's show to challenge him over his anti-Islam comments, saying he’d watch “Maher get his a-- whooped.” El-Sayed expressed willingness to engage with audiences who hold beliefs he considers "terrible," and suggested appearing on the show could help counteract those views. In response, Maher invited El-Sayed to appear on "Real Time" to discuss their differing opinions.
Written by AI on 2026-09-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, told former NBC News host Chuck Todd in an interview on Friday that despite comedian Bill Maher's anti-Islam comments, he would be willing to appear on Maher’s show. El-Sayed said he'd want to challenge Maher and "whoop his a--" on air, aiming to engage with Maher’s audience and address their misconceptions about Islam. He also mentioned being open to appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast for similar reasons. El-Sayed emphasized that despite Maher's previous derogatory remarks toward Muslims, it is important for him to speak directly to Maher's viewers to correct misinformation.

Written for “Abdul El-Sayed Challenges Bill Maher” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Abdul El-Sayed Challenges Bill Maher
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
31
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 31 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6392 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Lindsay Kornick
53 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 "I would regret it if I didn’t take this opportunity," Murray said.
🔮 Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over their views on Israel Thursday, calling their positions "wrong" and saying they did not reflect congressional Democrats.
🔮 When asked whether he would support using troops or drones, El-Sayed rejected the idea and suggested that the U.S. bears some responsibility for their rise.
🔮 " "PPS has and will continue to comply with all laws that serve and protect children," the district's statement read.
🔮 And in this Senate race, Abdul is the candidate who understands that and is willing to fight for it."
🔮 With both chambers of Congress, Hochul said Democrats could halt the "corruption" she alleged was occurring under the Trump administration.
🔮 The MS NOW host showed a clip of himself asking Whitmer over the weekend about what she thought about the "ugly recent rhetoric" levied against El-Sayed by Rogers and Trump, suggesting the attacks could be motivated by "xenophobia.
🔮 "I know it would sound crazy if I say none of the critique was valid, but I’m like, what is the critique?" Hannah-Jones told The New York Times during an interview on Wednesday.
🔮 "The top story from the 2026 cycle will be the electoral opening Democrats seized — and will have to maintain," Emanuel wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
🔮 Border czar Tom Homan has said that if the allegations are proven, Omar could be denaturalized.
Also by Lindsay Kornick
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 53 articles by Lindsay Kornick →

Topics

Democratic Michigan Muslim NBC News anti-Islam

Subjects

El-Sayed PERSON · 6× Maher PERSON · 5× Rogers PERSON · 3× Bill Maher PERSON · 2× El-Sayed's PERSON · 2× Michigan GPE · 2× Abdul El-Sayed PERSON · 1× Chuck Todd PERSON · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× NBC News ORG · 1×

Narrative

During the "Noosphere" interview, El-Sayed said he'd be willing to appear on Maher or Joe Rogan's respective shows despite them espousing what he considered to be "terrible" beliefs because he'd want to speak with their audiences.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-29
🔮 Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told former NBC News host Chuck Todd on Friday that he would want to go on comedian Bill Maher's show to see his "a-- whooped" after his anti-Islam comments.

Claims (31 extracted, 0 hedged)

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told former NBC News host Chuck Todd on Friday that he would want to go on comedian Bill Maher's show to see his "a-- whooped" after his anti-Islam comments. asserted
a-- → tell → comments
During the "Noosphere" interview, El-Sayed said he'd be willing to appear on Maher or Joe Rogan's respective shows despite them espousing what he considered to be "terrible" beliefs because he'd want to speak with their audiences. asserted
he → say → audiences
In addition, El-Sayed claimed that he'd be willing to go on "Real Time" in order to watch Maher get his a-- whooped" by a Muslim. asserted
Maher → claim → Muslim
"You know how many terrible things Bill Maher has said about people like me?" El-Sayed said. asserted
Sayed → know → me
Of course, he's still got his show on Comedy Central, and everybody seems to be perfectly okay going on that show despite the fact that he said deeply terrible things." asserted
he → get → things
He continued, "But you know who else would go on that show? asserted
who → continue → show
I would go on that show. asserted
I → go → show
You know why? asserted
You → know → ?
A: I wanna give people the image of watching him get his a-- whooped on his own show by a guy who prays like I do. asserted
I → give → guy
And I'd also go on the show because I want to convince the people who watch his show, right, that a lot of the things that he says, just not viable." asserted
he → go → that
Maher responded to El-Sayed's comments during his show on Friday and offered an invitation for the Michigan Democrat to appear on "Real Time." asserted
Democrat → respond → Time
"It’s not people like you, I would love to have you on, sir, by the way," Maher said. asserted
Maher → ’ → way
"And I hope we can make that happen. asserted
that → hope → ?
I talk about Islam. asserted
I → talk → Islam
It’s never personal, and it’s never about race. asserted
it → ’ → race
It’s about ideas. asserted
It → ’ → ideas
That’s all religion is: a group of thoughts that form an opinion of something. asserted
that → ’ → something
I have different views on what, you know, how women should be treated and things like that, asserted
women → have → that
that we will discuss. asserted
we → discuss → that
I hope you will accept our invitation." asserted
you → hope → invitation
Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed's campaign and Maher's representative for comment. asserted
Digital → reach → comment
El-Sayed has frequently invoked aggressive language against his GOP rival Mike Rogers. asserted
Sayed → invoke → rival
Last month, El-Sayed challenged Rogers to a game of tackle football despite being more than 20 years younger than the Republican candidate. asserted
Sayed → challenge → candidate
"Since you’re too afraid to debate me, how about you ‘hold me accountable’ on a football field instead," El-Sayed wrote on X. "Tackle, no pads like we used to play when we were kids. asserted
we → ’re → X.
I’d be happy to show you [how] much I love football." asserted
I → show → football
Speaking to Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams earlier this month, Rogers dismissed the comment as "unserious" in light of real election issues. asserted
Rogers → speak → issues
"I think that is so unserious. asserted
that → think → ?
You think about what the problems are here. asserted
problems → think → ?
People are facing this affordability [sic] credit. asserted
People → face → credit
He wants to thump his chest and show how macho he is, and he spends a lot of time talking about high school. asserted
he → want → school
This is not about high school," Rogers said. asserted
Rogers → say → school
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