A network of state-level newspapers funded in part by George Soros' philanthropic foundation published a headline calling Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a "veteran", a claim his own campaign says is flatly untrue.
The Michigan Independent, a paper distributed across Michigan and tied to a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, ran a headline in its August 2026 edition declaring that El-Sayed, "veteran, doctor, and former health official, is Democratic Senate pick." The problem: El-Sayed has no military service record. His campaign confirmed as much in a statement to Fox News Digital, and the article beneath the headline never mentioned any veteran status either.
The false label surfaced as photos of the headline circulated on social media in late August 2026. It raises a straightforward question: how does a newspaper that claims to "educate the public" manage to fabricate a military credential for a Senate candidate, and what kind of editorial standards govern an outlet bankrolled by some of the biggest names in progressive politics?
Cole Wozniak, a spokesman for El-Sayed's campaign, did not hold back when asked about the headline. He told Fox News Digital:
"Abdul has never claimed to be a veteran, he never would out of his respect for those who served, and any outlet or group writing about our campaign should do their homework and not allow this to happen again."
That statement is notable for two reasons. First, it confirms the headline was false, not a matter of interpretation, not a gray area, but a credential El-Sayed never held and never asserted. Second, the campaign's own rebuke suggests no one from The Michigan Independent bothered to verify the claim before printing it.
El-Sayed holds a medical degree, but Fox News Digital noted that he has never practiced as a physician. He previously served as a public health official. The Michigan Independent's headline dressed him up with a title, "veteran", that carries weight with voters, particularly in a general election where a Democratic candidate needs to appeal beyond a progressive primary base.
The article beneath the headline, written by Michigan politics reporter Alyssa Burr, mentioned nothing about El-Sayed being a veteran. It also did not clarify that while El-Sayed holds an M.D., he has never been a practicing physician. Burr's LinkedIn page lists her title as Michigan Politics Reporter at The American Independent, and her prior employers include MLive Media Group and the New York Times.
The Michigan Independent is not an independent local newspaper in any traditional sense. The front cover of the paper lists The American Independent Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered at 800 Maine Ave SW in Washington, D.C. Each state-based website in the network identifies itself as a project of American Independent Media, a separate 501(c)(4), the tax classification reserved for political activism organizations.
IRS 990 disclosure forms show that in 2024, The American Independent Foundation received a $500,000 grant from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, George Soros' philanthropic vehicle. Soros is one of the most prolific donors to progressive and Democratic causes in the country. His foundation's financial footprint extends well beyond media, as Soros-backed nonprofits have drawn scrutiny on issues ranging from criminal justice to public memorials.
The money trail does not stop with Soros. American Independent Media received a $23.5 million donation in 2024 from the AB Foundation, the 501(c)(4) arm of American Bridge. American Bridge is a 501(c)(3) founded by David Brock, who also founded Media Matters, the progressive media monitoring organization. Brock has been a central figure in Democratic opposition research and media strategy for years.
Put the numbers together: a network of newspapers operating in swing states, funded by tens of millions of dollars from some of the most powerful institutions in left-wing politics, published a fabricated military credential for a Democratic Senate candidate. The Washington Free Beacon first reported the Soros funding connection.
The Michigan Independent is not a one-off project. Fox News Digital reported that the Soros-funded network includes at least twelve other state-based newspapers. Among the states named: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, Maine, and Alaska, all of which feature competitive U.S. Senate races in the 2026 midterms.
At the time of Fox News Digital's reporting, both The Ohio Independent and The Pennsylvania Independent featured the same story on their websites, headlined "Report: Trump and Big Oil see financial windfall as Americans pay more at pump." The shared content across state lines undercuts any claim that these are locally driven news operations. They look, instead, like a coordinated messaging apparatus wearing the skin of local journalism.
American Independent Media's stated mission is "to use journalism to educate the public, giving them the information they need about local and federal issues." Fabricating a Senate candidate's military record is a strange way to educate anyone.
El-Sayed won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary and spoke during and ahead of the Michigan Democratic Party's 2026 nominating convention, held in Lansing on Saturday, August 29. On August 5, he appeared at a press conference in front of Detroit's Spirit of Detroit statue.
Fox News Digital described El-Sayed as a candidate now "trying to push toward the middle to reach the more moderate electorate", a pivot that would be helped, conveniently, by voters believing he had served in the military. Whether The Michigan Independent's headline was an intentional boost or a careless error, the paper offered no correction or explanation. The American Independent did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., discussed El-Sayed's alignment with the Democratic Socialists of America platform in a Fox News segment reported from Belleville, Michigan. That context makes the "veteran" label even more jarring, it attached a credential associated with service and sacrifice to a candidate whose policy positions sit on the progressive left.
The Michigan Independent did not issue a correction. It did not explain how the false headline was written, approved, and printed. No editor's note appeared. No one at the organization responded to press inquiries.
That silence is consistent with an operation that functions less as a newsroom and more as a political instrument. A genuine newspaper that falsely attributed military service to a public figure would treat it as a serious error, a breach of the basic trust readers place in a publication. The Michigan Independent treated it as nothing at all.
Voters in Michigan, and in every other state where these papers circulate, deserve to know who is funding the information they receive and how carefully that information is checked. In this case, the answers are: progressive mega-donors, and not at all.
When a newspaper backed by tens of millions in partisan money can't be bothered to verify whether a candidate actually served in uniform, the word "journalism" in its mission statement is doing about as much honest work as the word "veteran" in its headline.