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Hasan Piker, the controversial, far-left Twitch streamer, has made his way into real-life politics, where his presence is causing a rift in the Democratic Party.
Some Democrats have embraced Piker and even campaigned with him, while others have urged the party to reject the streamer over what they describe as antisemitic and anti-American views.
Piker began his daily online broadcasts in 2018 and has since gained a large following, including 3.1 million followers on Twitch, where he streams for several hours on a typical day.
The streamer has called religious Jews “inbred,” defended Hamas as being “a thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state,” mocked discussions of antisemitism on college campuses, and slammed a listener who criticized Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre as a “bloodthirsty violent pig dog.” Piker also minimized reports of mass sexual assault during the Oct. 7 attacks, according to The Times of Israel, and said it “doesn’t matter if f—— rapes happened on October 7. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”
Piker, who was raised as a Muslim, has repeatedly rejected claims that he is antisemitic and often says that he has used his platform to fight it despite what critics say about his rhetoric.
DEMOCRATS TEAM UP WITH FAR-LEFT STREAMER WHO ONCE SAID ‘AMERICA DESERVED 9/11’
In one of his more widely criticized moments, Piker said during a stream in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” Following immense backlash, Piker said in an interview with The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur that he “obviously” did not mean that America deserved the attacks and accused critics of not disregarding “the actual truth of what I was talking about,” explaining the viral quote as a critique of U.S. foreign policy.
“I should have used more precise and better use of language there,” Piker said in the 2019 interview. “It’s messed up that I would give the opportunity to the right to try to morally grandstand on an issue like this when they are 100% responsible for all the bloodshed that has been caused.”
He later admitted in the interview that his comments on 9/11 were “inappropriate.”
A friendly profile of him in the progressive outlet The Guardian, which also called him “fashionable and handsome,” fretted that his 9/11 remarks were “seized upon” by his critics.
Piker has recently become a point of division within the Democratic Party, as some candidates have chosen to campaign with him while others warn that legitimizing him gives Republicans political fodder.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in Michigan for U.S. Senate, recently drew heavy criticism after he announced his plan to hold two campaign events with Piker. Amid the growing backlash, El-Sayed addressed the issue in a video, explaining his decision to appear with Piker as an attempt to reach people who feel left out of traditional politics. However, he also said that he agrees with Piker on several issues, including criticism of the war in Iran, lambasting pro-Israel AIPAC’s role in politics, and support for free health care.
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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the planned events, with ADL Michigan Regional Director Elyssa Schmier saying that El-Sayed’s decision to appear with Piker was “yet another example of the growing normalization of extreme anti-Zionism in mainstream spaces.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt condemned Piker’s “long track record of commending and excusing terrorism,” saying that the streamer “routinely uses his platform to spread anti-Jewish tropes, amplify propaganda from designated terrorist groups, and promote toxic anti-Zionism.”
Greenblatt said it was “absolutely shocking” that El-Sayed decided to campaign with Piker, especially in the wake of the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich.
Progressive stars like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have appeared on Piker’s show.
He appeared on CNN this week to discuss his recent trip to Cuba, boasting about appearing on his “friend” Elex Michaelson’s program after being sharply criticized on the same network by CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
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Effie Phillips-Staley, who is running for Congress in the heavily Jewish 17th Congressional District in New York, is also facing backlash over her ties to Piker. The Democratic hopeful accused Israel of genocide and being an apartheid state during her appearance on Piker’s show on March 28, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). The outlet reported that Democratic committees in several New York counties issued a joint statement condemning Piker’s rhetoric and expressing “deep disappointment” in Phillips-Staley.
“Her decision represents a dangerous and unacceptable step toward legitimizing rhetoric that has no place in this District, in mainstream Democratic politics, or in any serious political discourse,” the statement read, according to JTA.
Like El-Sayed, Phillips-Staley said she did not “align with every word Hasan Piker has ever said,” adding that it was important to “recognize the massive value of a platform that engages millions of young people in the democratic process.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., condemned Piker in a letter to Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy and several others.
“Hasan Piker has emerged as the poster child for the post-October 7th outbreak of antisemitism in America,” Torres wrote. “Hasan Piker has come out as an apologist not only for 10/7 but also for 9/11, compounding antisemitism with anti-Americanism.”
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Another Democrat, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., called Piker “an unapologetic antisemite” and warned members of his party against associating with the controversial Twitch streamer.
“Democrats risk losing our credibility to condemn those on the right who traffic in bigotry, antisemitism, & hate when our own Members of Congress & candidates are celebrating or, worse yet, platforming those who espouse hate of any kind,” Schneider wrote on X.
Additionally, Jonathan Cowan, co-founder of the Democratic think tank Third Way, co-authored a Wall Street Journal opinion piece about the Democratic Party’s closeness with Piker.
“Mr. Piker is anti-American, antiwomen, anti-Western and antisemitic. No Democrat should engage with him. All should seek to push him to the fringe, where he belongs,” the article read.
The growing divide among Democrats over Piker underscores a larger challenge for the party ahead of the midterm elections: how to reach progressive voters without alienating moderates or handing Republicans a political opening.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Piker’s team for comment.
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