Fox network president Jay Wallace told Axios of Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s Monday interview on the network: “Someone didn’t necessarily like that.”
Fox aired El-Sayed’s campaign ads 129 times during the first six days of October, roughly twice as often as they appeared on ESPN.
Jason Roe, a Michigan Republican strategist, said of the network, “They are doing him a favor,” adding, “It’s only helping him reach center-right voters. But they are in business to make money, and he attracts eyeballs.”
A Clash Over Iran
El-Sayed, the Michigan candidate, repeatedly pressed anchor Martha MacCallum on whether the war in Iran has made Americans safer during his appearance Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” MacCallum stopped at one point to remind him which of them was conducting the interview.
MacCallum opened on terrorism, challenging El-Sayed over whether his past remarks suggested terror-attack victims were themselves to blame. His campaign has said it removed his social media posts about 9/11 and terrorism dating from before July 2023 so that old material could not be stripped of context.
El-Sayed told MacCallum: “The victim is never at fault, and terrorism is wrong no matter who perpetrates the terrorism, who it is perpetrated against.” He added that it has to be rooted out.
El-Sayed argued that war is a system of violence and asked why the U.S. is fighting in Iran, to what end, and who stands to gain. MacCallum countered that Iran had built a huge threat in its neighborhood and killed thousands of American citizens. El-Sayed replied that the big threat, the nuclear one, was already contained.
MacCallum disputed that, saying Iran was violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Obama-era nuclear agreement, by many estimates. El-Sayed answered that former President Barack Obama secured a deal and that President Donald Trump later destroyed it. MacCallum tried to interrupt as he returned to his central question, and he said he had not finished his point. The country could have chosen peace and instead chose war, El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed described a situation in which oil and gas cannot move through the Strait of Hormuz. MacCallum cut in and said that was not true, citing a Wall Street Journal piece she said showed the U.S. nearly back to getting oil out of the strait and the wider region.
El-Sayed asked why gas prices are so high, and MacCallum fell back on Trump’s long-used line that prices are about to come down. Drivers in his state are not seeing that at the pump, El-Sayed said. He said the average Michigander is weighing more than fuel costs: grocery prices, the 18 service members who lost their lives, and service members deployed and left stuck at sea without the resources or rations they needed.
El-Sayed, noting the war is now in its eighth month, asked MacCallum whether she was a fan of it. She replied, “I’m interviewing you.” MacCallum said she was not claiming to support the war and that an argument can be made it will make the United States safer. El-Sayed pressed further on whether more war produces more threats or fewer, got no answer, then renewed his request that she say whether the fighting has made the country safer. The candidate left the Fox News studio with his own question still hanging in the air.
Trump Hits His Own Network
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday, Oct. 6, that Fox is “promoting the Dumocrats” and called the MacCallum interview a “softball.” He broadened the attack in late-night Truth Social posts, calling El-Sayed a “RADICAL Extremist” and a “terrorist” and warning that he is “WRONG for Michigan, and WRONG for America.”
The clash landed at an awkward moment for the network. White House aides have privately complained to Fox News that the coverage is boosting a left-wing candidate. Host Sean Hannity was confronted on air about Trump’s repeated attacks on his longtime employer. Fox marked its 30th anniversary on Wednesday, Oct. 7, with FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott ringing the Nasdaq Closing Bell.
Several Republican operatives contacted Fox in August after host Jesse Watters said, “you gotta respect Abdul because he beat the machine.” El-Sayed then used the line in a campaign ad as an “unlikely validator.” Watters later told viewers: “I actually like Abdul. I probably shouldn’t like him, but I do.”
Scrutiny on the Trail
El-Sayed is also drawing scrutiny from the same network he sparred with. Fox’s Michigan coverage has highlighted Black voters and Jewish Democrats who say they are wary of backing him. El-Sayed reportedly called Hasan Piker to warn that Piker’s rhetoric was costing votes, according to a report published Oct. 7.
El-Sayed faced repeated questions at a Michigan Senate debate about whether Iran or Israel poses the greater threat to the U.S., according to a report published Oct. 9. He said, “Again, that’s a ridiculous question,” adding, “I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way.” Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, responded: “Yesterday was October 7th; this is why you should get absolutely angry. He could not even bring himself to acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders…”
