If you’ve never heard of Hasan Piker — the wildly popular gaming livestreamer, influencer and far-left political commentator with more than three million followers on Twitch, nearly two million on YouTube, more than two million on Instagram and over a million followers on X — you’re got plenty of company.
More than half of Democratic voters have no idea who he is. Yet over the past week, Piker has become the latest flashpoint in Democratic politics, with some moderate Democrats condemning him, while progressive Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed plans to hit the campaign trail with him next week.
Piker, a charismatic online personality, also had a dark side: a voluminous history of making antisemitic, misogynistic and downright offensive and inappropriate statements on his YouTube channel. Though his audience is massive, why any Democrat, progressive or moderate wants to be linked to him is baffling. For Democrats intent on winning back the House and Senate — and running against a historically unpopular incumbent president this November — Piker is a political distraction and potential liability.
Piker, who self-describes as a Marxist, infamously declared in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” He has repeatedly called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” compared Zionism to Nazism and said “Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel.
This last litany of statements recently led Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., to brand Piker as an “unapologetic antisemite.” In response to Schneider, Piker wrote last week on X, “lotsa aipac dogs barking today” [sic]. He also posted the same day: “Democrats that spend any amount of time chirping about me love israel more than defeating republicans and preserving democracy.”
Over the years, Piker has repeatedly praised the Chinese Communist government and said, “In terms of good governance, there’s a lot that we can learn from the way they perform out there.”
He has spoken positively of the “defund the police” movement, said he has “no patriotism in his heart” and has made a litany of misogynistic statements, including an online rant in which he chastised a Trump-supporting Vietnamese refugee and senior citizen and rhetorically demanded she perform fellatio on him.
Piker and his supporters argue that many of these statements are part of online culture, which is often sarcastic, blunt and purposely provocative. Or they say his words are being taken out of context, but in politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Piker has repeatedly called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” compared Zionism to Nazism, and said “Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel.
Most Democratic candidates would want to run as far away as possible from someone who has a history of such rhetorical bombast. Indeed, El-Sayed’s opponent, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, recently said of Piker that he “says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks and views and followers,” which is the opposite of what one tries to do in political campaigns. It’s one thing to appear on Piker’s show. It’s quite another, however, to literally do a campaign event with him and, in effect, receive his endorsement. If El-Sayed were to win the Democratic nomination in Michigan, one would expect Republicans to run ad after ad linking him to Piker’s more outrageous statements.
And it’s not as if Piker is a great friend to the Democratic Party. He has repeatedly criticized Democrats, particularly for their ideological moderation and ties to corporate interests. He didn’t endorse Kamala Harris in 2024 or Joe Biden in 2020, offering at best tepid support. (Though the Harris campaign did invite him to livestream from the 2024 Democratic National Convention as part of its “Creators for Kamala” initiative.) Piker is a leftist, not a Democrat.
In Piker’s world, Democrats are too centrist and should move, politically, to the left. One wonders how, in a swing state like Michigan, which has repeatedly elected middle-of-the-road, moderate Democrats, Piker’s political strategy would actually benefit Democrats.
Piker’s defenders — like El-Sayed — argue that he has millions of followers, particularly among young voters, whom Democrats have struggled to reach in recent years. (In a video post on Instagram, El-Sayed likened “talking” with Piker as akin to appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast.) But 55% of Democrats have never heard of Piker, and of those who have, only 13% view him favorably. It’s not as if young voters are up for grabs this cycle. Poll after poll shows that no demographic group has turned against President Donald Trump and the GOP more vociferously than younger voters. But young people are generally the least consistent and reliable voting bloc, by age. If Democrats are relying on this cohort to put them over the top in November, that seems like a fraught strategy. Piker’s supporters and fellow travelers have suggested that the criticism directed at him is really an effort to keep down the progressive wing of the party — and, make no mistake, there is truth to that charge. Moderate Democrats clearly see Piker as a liability, and many will never hesitate at the chance to denigrate the far left. But in this case, they have a point. It’s why in a recent survey of potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, only 3 out of 14 said they would appear on his show. But the question for liberal boosters of Piker is, “Why do you want Democratic candidates to fight on the hill of defending this guy?” Indeed, if the paragon of liberal politics — and the person who can attract young voters — is a guy who regularly makes antisemitic statements, blames America for 9/11 and can’t even endorse a Democratic presidential standard-bearer, perhaps the problem is not Piker’s critics, but rather those who feel they must defend him. Put aside the suspect morality of supporting someone with this kind of rhetorical track record — and the message sent to American Jews, who have long been one of the most dependable voting blocs for Democrats — how does anyone see Piker as a political asset for Democrats? For all the voters Piker could potentially attract to the candidates he supports, there are almost certainly more who would be repelled by him. If liberal Democrats were smart, the less voters heard about Piker between now and November, the better.
Michael Cohen is an MS NOW columnist. He is also the publisher of the newsletter Truth and Consequences and hosts the weekly podcast That ‘70s Movie Podcast. 
