Sky News reporter responds after heated El-Sayed confrontation: ‘Disappointing’

A Sky News reporter who clashed with Abdul El-Sayed as the first polls closed in the US midterm elections has spoken out after the heated exchange.

The former public health official, 42, won Michigan's open Senate seat. He will become the nation's first Muslim senator.

On Tuesday night (3 November), US correspondent James Matthews attempted to question El-Sayed, but he would not engage.

Mr El-Sayed told Mr Matthews that he wanted “zero votes” from the UK, before saying “like, five people watch it”.

Mr Matthews pointed out that Sky News has an international audience, and he was reporting on elections that would have impacts across the globe.

Responding after the exchange, Mr Matthews said: "If America is the leader of the free world, then people like El-Sayed, people who wield the power on Capitol Hill, they have a responsibility to provide a trust that we can all invest in, given the way the world is today. It was disappointing that he didn't feel able to take questions from foreign media."

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