Abdul El-Sayed grabs British reporter by shoulders in heated exchange: ‘Stop chasing me around’
WASHINGTON, DC: On Election Day, Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, clashed with a British reporter, questioning why he wanted an interview when he couldn't even vote in the state.
El-Sayed spotted James Matthews, a Sky News US correspondent, and called him out for following him around.
The tension began as soon as Matthews approached El-Sayed and started asking questions about the closely contested Michigan Senate race.
El-Sayed's first question caught the reporter off guard: Was Matthews even registered to vote in Michigan? When Matthews admitted he wasn't, El-Sayed questioned why he should bother answering a reporter who had no personal stake in the outcome.
Matthews argued that the election had global significance, but El-Sayed dismissed his reasoning.
Abdul El-Sayed clashes with Sky News reporter
“Are you registered to vote in the state of Michigan?” the Democratic candidate asked Sky News US correspondent James Matthews.
When the reporter confirmed that he was not, the Democratic candidate responded, “Then why would I care to have a conversation with you?”
Michigan's Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed confronted @jamesmatthewsky, telling him he wouldn't answer his questions as he wants "zero" votes in the UK. Watch the heated exchange between the two. Watch our live coverage of the US midterms➡️ https://t.co/hrELyhg17W
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 3, 2026
Matthews explained that he was a journalist and that the result of the Michigan Senate race “matters to the world.”
“You know how many votes I want to get into the UK? Zero,” El-Sayed told him. “I do not care what you think or the questions you ask.”
By this point in the exchange, El-Sayed had placed both hands on the reporter's shoulders.
“I’m asking you to stop chasing me around,” El-Sayed demanded before walking away. El-Sayed is no stranger to clashes with reporters.
Abdul El-Sayed's history of tense media interviews
This wasn't the first time Abdul El-Sayed had a tense exchange with reporters on the campaign trail.
Just this past weekend, he snapped at a journalist who asked about his conversations with Haley Stevens, his former Democratic primary opponent.
“You’re really asking the questions people want to hear … Ask me a serious question,” he condescendingly told a reporter over the weekend when asked about his communications with Stevens.
Last month, El-Sayed snapped at NBC News' Tom Llamas and Fox News' Bret Baier in separate interviews when they asked about his family's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
When Llamas brought up events in Egypt from 1970, El-Sayed pushed back and steered the conversation toward his life and work in Michigan.
“It’s funny to me … I was raised here in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt the health department in this city, led the health department in this county, and you want to ask me about what’s happening in Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?” he barked at Llamas.
“Bret, Bret … no, no, no … let me just stop there,” El-Sayed interjected, cutting off Baier before he could finish his question.
“I’m not interested in anything you’re going to pull out from a 2012 statement, a letter, you’re going to pull that out of context, you’re going to ask questions about my allegiance,” he said.
