JUST IN: CNN Busts Abdul El-Sayed, Exposes Radical Now-Deleted YouTube Videos

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed once urged Americans to find another way to celebrate the Fourth of July, arguing “fireworks suck” in one of roughly 100 YouTube videos that have since disappeared from public view.

The videos, many of which have since been removed from YouTube, are part of a broader online archive that has largely disappeared as El-Sayed campaigns for the U.S. Senate. According to a CNN KFile investigation, roughly 100 videos that were once public have been made private.

One July 2024 video urged viewers to reconsider Independence Day traditions, promising four reasons “why fireworks suck.”

The episode included a segment titled “Fireworks just aren’t worth it: hear us out,” with El-Sayed pointing to Detroit’s post-fireworks air pollution, chemicals used in fireworks, the potential impact on veterans with PTSD, and dangers posed to pets and children.

The fireworks episode is only one example of older content that has vanished from public view. CNN KFile previously reported that El-Sayed also deleted social media posts expressing support for the “defund the police” movement.

Other removed videos captured El-Sayed dismissing the southern border as a top concern for Americans while criticizing Republicans for making it a central campaign issue. In another clip, he suggested replacing the Second Amendment with a constitutional guarantee to health care.

Some controversial commentary, however, remains online.

In a February 2023 podcast episode that is still publicly available, El-Sayed questioned whether football could ever be “ethical” or “safe,” arguing that the sport’s “ethos” echoed narratives historically used to justify slavery and westward expansion.

The resurfaced material comes just days after Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, setting up a high-profile general election against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in a race expected to help decide control of the Senate.

Republicans are likely to seize on the extensive archive of videos, podcasts and social media posts to portray El-Sayed as far to the left of many Michigan swing voters.

El-Sayed’s campaign argued the older comments no longer reflect his current views.

“Abdul is the former captain of his high school football team, loves Michigan football on Saturdays, and celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks like the next Michigander. Cherry-picked comments from old podcasts don’t reflect his beliefs today.”

The campaign also pointed to a 2025 social media post encouraging followers to enjoy Fourth of July fireworks. It said El-Sayed supports immigration reform that keeps the southern border secure while criticizing recent ICE enforcement actions under the Trump administration. On gun policy, the campaign said he respects the Second Amendment while backing measures aimed at preventing criminals from obtaining firearms.

I asked Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about why he erasing old posts, including a dozen tweets that championed the “defund the police” movement, following reporting from my @KFILE colleagues. pic.twitter.com/EMFXnw7nzR

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 9, 2026

CNN reported that while the videos are no longer publicly accessible, it reviewed transcripts that had been archived before they were made private.

One of the deleted fireworks videos briefly displayed a sponsorship notice from the Marguerite Casey Foundation. During sponsor reads on his “America Dissected” podcast, El-Sayed praised what he described as the foundation’s “cutting-edge areas of scholarship,” including “feminist prison abolition.”

POLL: Will You Support Trump And His Candidates In The Midterms?

The foundation supports research and advocacy across a range of progressive issues, including prison abolition, which seeks to replace incarceration with community-based alternatives focused on housing, education, health care and restorative justice.

Not every deleted video dealt with politics.

CNN reported El-Sayed also removed lighter content, including a video discussing plastics and testicles, along with a November 2024 episode encouraging viewers to support Kamala Harris.

His past remarks on policing have already become a campaign issue.

During interviews in 2020, El-Sayed said “we do need to defund the police,” describing the approach as shifting resources away from law enforcement and toward schools, social services and anti-poverty initiatives. More recently, he has denied supporting police defunding, arguing earlier comments and deleted social media posts highlighted by CNN were taken out of context.

The deleted videos also captured El-Sayed criticizing Republican messaging on immigration.

In a September 2022 episode, he said the southern border was an issue Republicans “love to flog,” arguing it “doesn’t even make the top five among issues that people in the United States actually care about that affect their lives.”

He later contended Republican voters had been conditioned to prioritize border security over inflation, gas prices and public health. El-Sayed also criticized Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for transporting migrants to other states.

“It’s crazy to me that the party that says that they’re the party of family values can’t understand when people will make decisions for their families — because that’s exactly what these migrants are doing,” El-Sayed said.

Another deleted video from April 2023 featured El-Sayed suggesting a dramatic constitutional change in the wake of a Tennessee school shooting.

“What if we tweaked the Constitution, amended the amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have health care?” he asked.

El-Sayed argued such a change would result in “fewer people dying by gun and more people living because they have health care.”

POLL: Ilhan Omar Now Claims She’s Broke – Do You Believe Her?