CBS Star Jan Crawford Issues Formal Apology, Admits Controversial Political Post Was a 'Violation' of Network Standards After Public Backlash

CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford issued a formal apology and deleted a controversial social media post after facing intense public backlash for praising a town hall questioner targeting a Democratic political candidate.

On Sunday, October 18, Crawford reshared a video from a town hall event for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

During the event, an attendee named Thomas "Tommy" Teepell — later identified by media watchdogs as a Republican operative — confronted El-Sayed, demanding to know if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed responded directly by saying, "Sure. Yeah, absolutely," before adding, "I’m not running to be a Muslim senator. I’m running for the U.S. Senate, and happen to be Muslim," while criticizing the implication of "dual loyalties.”

“Why are you asking the question?” El-Sayed asked.

“Well, because they’re a terrorist group,” said Teepell, as El-Sayed questioned him, saying, “OK. No, but what are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?”

Teepell, who had previously worked for Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, admitted he was operating under that assumption, reasoning, “Because I have not heard you disavow them yet.”

“Have you disavowed them? I haven’t heard you disavow them yet,” El-Sayed quipped.

“I’m not running to be a Muslim senator. I’m running for the U.S. Senate, and happen to be Muslim,” he later said.

The 41-year-old El-Sayed, a physician and epidemiologist, cited controversy over John F. Kennedy being a Catholic, saying, “When he ran for president, he was asked whether or not he was going to have allegiance to the Pope at the Vatican, because of course he’s Catholic, and his answer famously was that he was not running to be a Catholic president; he was running to be president that happened to be Catholic. So it’s important, I think, because you ask this question in a way that suggests that somehow our Constitution shouldn’t be the thing that all of us bear allegiance to. And I’m just telling you that for me, that the Constitution is the guiding light.”

El-Sayed’s answer drew praise on social media.

“Best job of politely calling out someone’s bigotry I’ve ever seen,” one viewer wrote in response.

“Maybe Tommy should ask where the president’s allegiance is because it looks like it's to Russia,” wrote another.

In her initial post on X, Crawford, whose boss is Bari Weiss, explicitly sided with the questioner, writing, “Tommy, thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s nanosecond ‘yeah absolutely’ response. His subsequent uninterrupted three-minute diatribe proving your exact point is the kind of spectacular self-own most people only dream about triggering. Congrats.”

Crawford’s post went viral, drawing widespread condemnation from journalists and the public who accused her of abandoning journalistic objectivity and amplifying partisan smears.

Crawford deleted the post and issued a brief statement admitting it "violated" network standards.

“Earlier, I tweeted a video from an Abdul El-Sayed town hall. I deleted that tweet because it was a violation of CBS News standards. I apologize,” she posted after the backlash.