Have Democrats reached Peak Piker? Clearly, that's what they hope.
Even after Abdul El-Sayed won the Democrats' Senate nomination in Michigan, others in the party didn't bother to speak up about his radical wingman, Hasan Piker. That reluctance has vanished altogether now that Piker and his antisemitic commentary threatens to bleed into every midterm contest in the country. Suddenly, Democrats from coast to coast want to distance themselves from El-Sayed's campaign surrogate:
Prominent Democrats are lining up to condemn far-left streamer Hasan Piker after he warned that American Jews could face violence if they continue to be seen as strongly supporting Israel.
The backlash follows a stream last week in which Piker displayed an image of Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish and the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District.
Moss has said a fake audio clip is being circulated that falsely portrays him as saying he ran for Congress solely to ensure continued U.S. support for Israel.
“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said.
That seems to have been the final straw, although it wasn't the most antisemitic claim Piker has made, even in the same stream. Piker claimed that Israel is "basically Jewish ISIS," a monstrous slander, not to mention a breathtaking idiocy. Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with ethnic, religious, and lifestyle diversity on a scale that far outstrips any other nation in that region. ISIS was/is an Islamist tyranny that enslaved people, enforced theocratic rigidity in law, and operated on a conqueror model of an ancient caliphate.
Also: That's exactly the kind of Islamist rule Piker, El-Sayed, and El-Sayed's financial backers want. They just want it Judenrein first.
Now that people have begun to notice those contradictions of the Left, not to mention its ugly anti-Jewish bigotry, suddenly Democrats want nothing to do with El-Sayed's wingman. Jon Ossoff in Georgia is the latest to attempt some long-distance running from the Islamo-Marxist Left of his own party, but only because he and other Democrats are being forced to deal directly with it:
Add Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff to the growing list of Democrats condemning left-wing commentator Hasan Piker after he suggested that pro-Israel advocacy could fuel violence against American Jews.
Pressed on Piker’s remarks, Ossoff said through a spokesperson that the he “unreservedly rejects reckless and dangerous rhetoric suggesting that policy advocacy invites violence against the Jewish community or any community.”
“American Jews and all Americans must have the freedom and security to speak out and petition their government without fear of reprisal,” he added.
The key part of this AJC report is this phrase: "Pressed on Piker's remarks." Democrats shrugged off Piker in the belief that the media would manage the narrative well enough to make him into a victim of Republican pouncing. Failing that, they likely expected the media to isolate the issue to Michigan rather than allow the GOP to Akinize Piker and El-Sayed into a national story. The problem with that strategy was El-Sayed's decision to make Piker a campaign speaker during the primary, which makes him a story to this day – not to mention Piker's habit of escalating these conflicts rather than playing them down.
Now everyone wants to claim Piker has nothing to do with the election, including fellow Michigander Debbie Dingell:
Rep. Debbie Dingell, while at an Abdul El-Sayed campaign event, yells at reporters for bringing up Abdul’s top campaign surrogate Hasan Piker pic.twitter.com/ekQCcU3nbI
— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) August 26, 2026
If Dingell wants to stop hearing about Piker, she will have to retire from public life, turn off her television, and start screening her calls. The Democrat Party's embrace of El-Sayed includes Piker, and Piker's radical bigotry is an issue that every Democrat has to address.
The NY Post article goes on to list Democrats in the midterms that have now publicly denounced Piker:
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
- Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill.
- Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
- Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.
- Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.
- Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
- Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass.
- Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich.
- Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D
- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
The list also includes Democrats not on any ballot this year as well, such as Cory Booker, John Fetterman, and James Carville. The backlash itself makes Piker a national story, precisely what Democrats hoped the Protection Racket Media would prevent – and what the media attempted to blunt in the days after El-Sayed's razor-thin primary victory. Now, prominent Democrats across the country are attempting to throw Piker under the bus, and that means El-Sayed has to go under it as well.
El-Sayed has belatedly realized that reality. He's now attempting to distance himself from his own campaign surrogate:
Michigan Senate Democratic nominee Abdul el Sayed on Wednesday indicated he would no longer campaign with Hasan Piker after stoking scrutiny for associating with him due to controversial positions the Twitch streamer holds.
Throughout his campaign, el Sayed has repeatedly appeared with Piker, including during campus rallies at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan in April, and at a Detroit event earlier this month. Their relationship has raised eyebrows due to accusations that Piker employs antisemitic rhetoric.
After moving to distance himself from Piker following his primary win on Aug. 5, el Sayed told Semafor on Wednesday evening he has “no plans” to campaign with him. The shift comes roughly two months ahead of the general election, where the Senate hopeful must amass majority support in one of the country’s tightest races to clinch a victory over former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers.
Being a radical himself, however, El-Sayed can't actually articulate any distance at all, as Ben Shapiro points out:
Then it should be very easy for you to explain how and why you disagree with him, and why it was a mistake to campaign with him. But you're not doing any of that. Because you agree with him, obviously. https://t.co/uDeZDZpqSF
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 27, 2026
Precisely. If El-Sayed didn't agree with Piker's positions on Israel and his long string of public comments on Jews, Israel, and Islamists, then why did he invite Piker to join the campaign? If El-Sayed claims now to be unaware of those statements, why did he not address these concerns when people first raised them? Either El-Sayed is an idiot or a liar when it comes to Piker, and neither of those options speaks well of his judgment as a potential member of the US Senate.
There is a third option that comes closest to the truth. El-Sayed now realizes that his party is about to cut him loose and direct its midterm resources elsewhere, leaving him at the mercy of a Mike Rogers/GOP fundraising juggernaut loaded to the max with oppo research on both him and his erstwhile wingman. El-Sayed is doing the minimal amount of distancing he can without angering the radical base that Piker energized for him in the Democrat primary, and it's not going to suffice. The longer this drags out, the more damage that El-Sayed and Piker do to other Democrats in key midterm races, damage that will be amplified by the DSA and its own activist candidates in this cycle. Republicans learned a hard lesson with Todd Akin, and they finally have the chance to return the favor in spades – and Democrats know it.
