Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) dismissed an on-air push by NBC News host Kristen Welker to get the National Republican Senatorial Committee to pull its social media posts targeting Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, according to a clip highlighted by Townhall.
During a Sunday interview, Welker pressed Scott — who chairs the NRSC — over ads that she said claim El-Sayed has “terrorist ties,” asserting that “there is no evidence that he has terrorist ties.” She asked whether the NRSC should stop running them.
Scott did not back down. He cited El-Sayed’s family background and campaign associations to justify the committee’s messaging.
“We know without question that he had family members who helped resource Osama bin Laden,” Scott said. He also noted that El-Sayed campaigns with Hasan Piker, a progressive streamer who previously said America “deserved 9/11.”
When Welker tried to redirect the conversation back to El-Sayed’s own statements, Scott doubled down. “Birds of a feather flock together,” he said. “The company you keep does matter.”
Policy Attacks and Bipartisan Pushback
Scott shifted to El-Sayed’s policy record, arguing that the former Biden administration official-turned-candidate holds positions that have alienated even fellow Democrats in Michigan. He said El-Sayed wants to abolish ICE and defund the police, and that Democrats are “joining forces, for the first time, with Republicans to elect Mike Rogers.”
Welker countered by citing a Washington Post analysis that found “nearly one in three posts about El-Sayed from right-wing figures mentioned Islam, Muslims, or sharia.” She asked if Republicans were trying to scare voters because El-Sayed would be the first Muslim senator.
Scott rejected that framing, pointing directly to El-Sayed’s own words: “He’s the one that said that he was committed to sharia law,” and that he wanted to eliminate much of the national security apparatus.
Welker noted that El-Sayed had denounced Piker’s comments on her own program. Scott was unconvinced, saying, “He continues to campaign with him anyways. You can’t denounce it with your words and do something different with your actions.”
Media Double Standard, Says Townhall
Townhall’s coverage frames the exchange as an example of the liberal media running “crisis comms” for Democratic candidates while ignoring false attacks by Democrats. The outlet cited a 2012 Obama super PAC ad featuring an Ohio factory worker who falsely claimed Mitt Romney had given his wife cancer — an ad that ran anyway and resonated.
“We don’t need to play by liberal media’s rules,” Townhall wrote, arguing the GOP should not feel obligated to pull accurate ads just because Democratic-aligned outlets demand it.
The Michigan Senate race between El-Sayed and former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers is among the most closely watched contests in the 2026 midterm cycle, and the NRSC has made it a priority.
Source: townhall.com — https://townhall.com/news/mattvespa/2026/08/24/sen-tim-scott-basically-told-this-nbc-news-host-to-pound-sand-over-these-abdul-el-sayed-ads-n2681785
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