Hasan Piker's rise in Democratic politics and the backlash to his rhetoric

In July, Piker addressed the summer convention of the College Democrats of America in an outfit resembling Mao Zedong's. The group's Jewish caucus demanded an apology for hosting him, and the liberal pro-Israel group J Street said it had funded an exhibit table and had no say in who spoke.^[7] Days later he drew scrutiny for a framed newspaper front page about the 9/11 attacks in the background of his stream.^[8] The same week he told New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to "shut the f--- up" about cautious messaging and to be more "bold,"^[9] and named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as his choice for president in 2028.^[10]

Critics repeatedly cited his statement that "America deserved 9/11," made during a stream in 2019.^[11] In August Piker said he could have phrased it in a better way.^[1] He also defended Hamas's "right to resist" Israel in a CNN interview,^[12] told Rolling Stone that his claim that Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel was "intentionally provocative,"^[13] and described Hamas as "moderate."^[14] On his stream, he asked Democrats to defend him, calling himself part of the Democratic coalition and saying he was no "toxic radical force."^[15]

August brought the sharpest backlash. At a stop on his live tour, video showed Piker appearing to lead the audience in a song associated with online mockery of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.^[16] The same month he suggested to his Twitch viewers that American Jews' support of Israel would make antisemitism worse and invite violence, and he displayed a photo of Jeremy Moss, a Michigan state senator, during the stream.^[3] A wave of Democrats condemned him: Jeffries called the rhetoric "malicious," Ossoff said through a spokesperson that he "unreservedly rejects" it, and Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan called the comments "unacceptable."^[3] Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, sought to distance himself from Piker. Piker pointed to AIPAC and said the mainstream media had a "crisis of credibility."^[3]

The party's argument over him ran through the fall. The Democratic strategist James Carville called Piker an "idiot"^[11] and later said: "Hasan Piker is not a Democrat."^[17] Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said he felt he had "lost to Hasan Piker" and that the party's base loves him.^[18] Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida taunted Piker after defeating a progressive challenger in his primary.^[19] Others defended him or dismissed the attention. Ocasio-Cortez called the focus on him "absolutely ludicrous,"^[20] the activist David Hogg called it "kind of weird,"^[21] Rep. Jamie Raskin called his rhetoric an "irrelevant distraction,"^[22] and the Democratic Socialists of America called him "our Twitch streamer."^[23]

In a September interview with Axios, Piker said the United States conducts more terrorism than al-Qaeda, "pound for pound,"^[24] and that the Middle East would be "more stable" if Iran had nuclear weapons.^[25] He said he would "absolutely" campaign for Ocasio-Cortez in 2028.^[26] On an MS NOW podcast, the host Symone Sanders-Townsend told him he had "never elected anybody."^[27] He called for a "cultural revolution" within the Democratic Party,^[28] and he told Jon Lovett that he had toned down his rhetoric amid the backlash.^[4] In October, he drew renewed accusations of antisemitism after blaming Israel for Jewish voters' shift away from Democrats,^[29] and he said James Talarico would have to answer to the left if elected to the Senate.^[30]

Republicans made use of him as well. At their midterm convention in Dallas, a montage about Piker showed an image of him in his underwear,^[31] and Benjamin Netanyahu repeated Piker's words about 9/11 at the United Nations General Assembly while criticizing Mamdani.^[32] Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch, filed a $150 million lawsuit accusing Piker of inciting violence.^[33] Piker, for his part, appeared to be preparing a defamation suit against the CNN contributor Scott Jennings over a heavily edited video.^[34] In late October, he joined Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis to rally progressives.^[35]