What past is he hiding?

The deleted content

A CNN KFile investigation found more than 100 videos on El-Sayed's YouTube channel that appear to have been made private before he launched his campaign. The contents span several politically sensitive topics.

In one clip from April 2023, he asked: "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 healthcare?" He argued the move would lead to "fewer people dying by gun and more people living because they have healthcare."

He also deleted social media posts supporting 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. And there was a video arguing Americans should find another way to celebrate the Fourth of July, with El-Sayed promising four reasons "why fireworks suck."

The Hasan Piker association

Separate from the deleted videos, El-Sayed's decision to campaign alongside Hasan Piker, a popular left-wing internet streamer, has kept a second controversy alive. Piker has drawn criticism for past comments about the September 11 attacks and the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, including remarks that appeared to downplay or justify the violence, and he minimized reports of mass sexual assault during the October 7 attacks.

When pressed on why he had not directly condemned Piker's rhetoric, El-Sayed pushed back:

"With all due respect, this is the third time you've asked about a Twitch streamer in California."

The Muslim Brotherhood accusation

A resurfaced video from a 2018 gubernatorial forum shows El-Sayed responding sharply to accusations about alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed served as vice president of the Muslim Students Association chapter at the University of Michigan during his senior year, though no reporting has uncovered any direct tie between him and the Muslim Brotherhood itself. The memorandum cited by his accuser lists a wide range of organizations, from the Islamic Book Service to the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers, groups that do not maintain formal relationships with the Muslim Brotherhood.

What El-Sayed says

His campaign's response to the deleted videos: "Cherry-picked comments from old podcasts don't reflect his beliefs today." On guns, the campaign said El-Sayed respects the Second Amendment while supporting policies aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

The honest read is that none of this is a hidden secret so much as an earlier version of himself, one built for a podcast audience rather than a Michigan general election. The issue for El-Sayed is less what he was hiding and more whether voters in a competitive swing state find the gap between the 2023 podcaster and the 2026 Senate candidate credible.