A new political ad in Michigan is stirring up powerful emotions just as the nation prepares to mark 25 years since 9/11. It features David Beamer—the father of Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer—directly targeting Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed over an association with a controversial online personality.
The video, released by Republican candidate Mike Rogers, lands as the anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches. In it, David Beamer takes aim at El-Sayed’s past connection to left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who in 2019 stated that “America deserved 9/11.”
El-Sayed has publicly disavowed that comment, but Beamer isn’t letting it slide. “A citizen, I guess, has a free will and a right to say that,” the elder Beamer says in the ad. “An American would not.”
Rogers, a former FBI agent and past chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is leaning hard into El-Sayed’s past rhetoric on 9/11. The former public health official has faced scrutiny over now-deleted social media posts where he compared COVID-19 death tolls to 9/11 and criticized the War on Terror’s toll.
El-Sayed has pushed back, stressing that he views the 2001 attacks as a terrible tragedy. But the Rogers campaign is betting that voters in Michigan will remember the original remarks.
The ad’s emotional weight comes from David Beamer, whose son Todd was one of the passengers aboard United Flight 93. On 9/11, Todd and others learned of the other hijackings and decided to fight back. They stormed the cockpit, ultimately causing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field instead of reaching its intended target—believed to be the U.
S. Capitol or the White House.
“Todd Beamer was an American hero who courageously stood up and faced down evil,” Rogers said in a statement. “Todd’s selfless actions saved countless lives.”
David Beamer endorsed Rogers this week, urging Michigan voters to “vote America this time” and warning that Democratic socialists pose a threat to the nation. In the video, he reminds viewers that preserving the memory of 9/11 heroes is a responsibility passed down through generations.
“America didn’t just happen,” he says. “America was built. America was protected, and that’s what it takes.”
As the anniversary draws closer, this ad is sparking fresh debate about what it means to honor the past—and what voters will decide at the ballot box.
