A Michigan Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, is facing accusations of ‘champagne socialism’ due to his reported household income of $686,069 in 2025, significantly surpassing the median income in Michigan. Criticism also surrounds his association with streamer Hasan Piker, known for controversial 9/11 comments.
Media Research Center (MRC) conducted a study on the portrayal of El-Sayed in Apple News and Google News. MRC President, David Bozell, expressed concerns about the lack of negatively framed headlines regarding El-Sayed in these platforms’ top stories. Bozell warned that voters could miss a comprehensive view of candidates if reliant on these news feeds alone, as most Americans do not visit multiple news websites daily but instead use aggregate news services.
The MRC analysis involved studying the top 20 news stories from Google News and Apple News across several months. Researchers focused on the portrayal of El-Sayed using sentiment analysis to categorize headlines as negative, neutral, or positive. The report noted the absence of negatively framed headlines about El-Sayed post-February 10.
Questions were raised by Bozell about whether Google News provides a comprehensive view of political stories, citing previous similar findings involving another Senate candidate, Graham Platner. Google News was reported to have featured fewer right-leaning outlets in its selections compared to left-leaning ones during the same period.
Google News disputed MRC’s methodology as flawed, arguing it relied on limited data and did not consider updates or personalization. Apple explained that its Top Stories are curated editorials and consistent for all users, although individual feeds may be personalized.
The scrutiny over El-Sayed includes his use of the physician title, affiliation with Hasan Piker, backing from the Arab American Political Action Committee, and his stance on issues like Medicare for All and abolishing ICE. During an April interview, El-Sayed equated the Israeli government and Hamas as equally ‘evil’ for their actions, attracting further attention.
MRC’s report mentioned similar past patterns of media coverage regarding Graham Platner, causing concerns over the suppression of critical stories. Fox News Digital sought comments from Apple, Google, and El-Sayed but did not receive immediate responses.
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