By Noah Rothman
Thursday, August 06, 2026
It’s pretty bleak out there. But if you’re looking for a
sliver of hope, it seems that a critical mass of Democrats understand that most
Americans did not like 9/11.
That’s the liability — one of so many, in fact — that the
far-left podcaster Hasan Piker brings to the table.
Democrats in the orbit of the party’s establishment have warned that Abdul El-Sayed’s eager and sincere embrace
of the Maoist influencer is destined to backfire on the party’s Michigan
senatorial nominee.
Before the state’s primary voters anointed him,
El-Sayed’s association with Piker was a point of contention.
Former Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow branded Piker “the biggest antisemite in media.” Before she
dropped out of the race, State Senator Mallory McMorrow called him a “provocateur” who regularly
broadcasts “misogynistic and antisemitic” things. New Jersey Democratic
Representative Josh Gottheimer went so far as to support a House resolution
condemning Piker. “Mr. Piker traffics in antisemitic and anti-American
extremism that has been met by silence from many on the Democratic left,” he
wrote in the New York Times.
Even Bernie Sanders is giving voice to his qualms with
Piker, while being quick to talk himself out of his own conclusions. “No,” Sanders
said when asked if he was “comfortable” with El-Sayed’s proximity to the
podcaster who said America “deserved 9/11.” And yet, even if Piker has some
intemperate views, “he’s saying things that are making sense to a lot of
people.”
Senator John Fetterman called on El-Sayed to renounce his
affiliations with Piker — a call that the candidate rejected:
El-Sayed has been consistent in his refusal to condemn
his booster. He has previously insisted that he has as many differences with
Piker’s views as he does with the hosts of Fox & Friends, but he
would no more renounce his buddy than he would eschew the opportunity to speak
to Fox’s viewers.
And, honestly, shouldn’t we all be as concerned with the
company Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers keeps? “I think people get real
worried about him, but you think about who Mike Rogers has been palling around
with, right?” the candidate said in an attempt to deflect from the liability
Piker represents. “I think it’s important for us to just remember what Mike
Rogers is and what we’re up against.”
Really, what’s the difference between Brian Kilmeade and
Piker? Well, one of them said that approximately 3,000 Americans deserved
to be murdered by Islamist terrorists because their country liberated
Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. He has repeatedly contended that Hamas terrorists occupy the moral high ground. He’s called
for the murder of the people he regards as his class enemies, including (specifically and by name) Republican Senator Rick Scott.
Tomato, tomahto. Who are we to judge?
In one sense, El-Sayed’s obduracy is commendable. He can
no more renounce his associations with Piker than he can shed his own views, which are not qualitatively
distinct from those of the Bolshevist influencer from whom he has been
inseparable for months. What Democrats want is for El-Sayed to lie to
Michiganders about who he is. Credit where due: he will not do that.
Maybe Democrats want a plausible way to justify their
vote for El-Sayed that allows them to say they didn’t know who he was.
Blessedly, El-Sayed will not give them that. If they’re going to pull the lever
for anti-Americanism (in one Democratic congresswoman’s words), they’re going to
have to do so with clear eyes.
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