Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed had no trouble standing near Hasan Piker when Piker's audience could help him win a Democratic primary. Now El-Sayed is Michigan's Democrat nominee for Senate, facing Republican nominee Mike Rogers in November, and Piker suddenly looks considerably less useful.
From Fox News:
The statement from El-Sayed came after Piker, on his stream last week, featured an image of state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in Michigan's 11th Congressional District. Moss, who is Jewish, has said that people are sharing a fake audio clip of him claiming that his entire reason for running for Congress is to make sure that America continues to support 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 warned.
Piker, who endorsed El-Sayed for the Democratic nomination and appeared at some of the candidate's campaign events including a primary night party in Detroit, has repeatedly stood by his numerous past comments critical of Israel over its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Piker's latest comments have been blasted by a growing number of Republicans and Democrats since they grabbed attention this past weekend. Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan charged that Piker is "a hack who thrives on hate."
Rogers, in a social media post on Sunday, took aim at both Piker and El-Sayed.
"More calls for violence coming out of the El-Sayed campaign," Rogers said. And he claimed, "Here is his running mate, Hasan Piker, saying that if AMERICAN JEWS support Israel, they will be violently targeted because of it."
Rogers added, "Absolutely DISGUSTING. If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all. We’re waiting, Abdul…"
Piker, a left-wing streamer and political commentator, endorsed El-Sayed, campaigned with him, appeared at campaign events, and joined him at an August 3 gathering in Detroit.
From Fox News:
Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six events held by the DSA, including a 2019 fundraiser which he headlined. Despite the longstanding relationship, El-Sayed has distanced himself from the DSA when interviewed by the press and outright rejected being labeled as a "socialist."
"I'm not technically or practically DSA," El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In an interview with CNN, he similarly stated that "I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated."
While El-Sayed has made a point to separate himself from the DSA, the organization made it clear that the two were close.
At the 2019 event, which raised $10,000 for the organization, El-Sayed was described by DSA organizers as "a longtime friend of Detroit DSA." He was photographed smiling next to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a self-described socialist, behind a table with a poster on it depicting a hand labeled "DSA" choking a snake labeled "capitalism."
El-Sayed’s first recorded appearance at a DSA event was during his run for Michigan governor in 2017. Other DSA events he spoke at focused on Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
When El-Sayed fielded questions in April about Piker's views, he refused the invitation to renounce him and complained about "gotcha" politics and platform policing.
On Aug. 9, after winning the primary, he still stressed that Piker's roughly 3 million listeners were people he wanted to reach.
Then Piker warned that American Jews who publicly identify themselves with Israel could eventually face violence. Democrats began condemning him. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) called his rhetoric dangerous.
Suddenly El-Sayed wanted voters to know that nobody except him and his official spokespeople speaks for his campaign. He condemned antisemitism and rhetoric that puts Jewish Americans at risk.
My bet is that the Democratic National Committee looked at Michigan, looked at Piker, and decided some daylight was urgently needed. I can't prove party officials sent El-Sayed an order, and I won't pretend I can.
But when we look at the timing, incentives, and behavior, all three aspects point in an uncomfortable direction for Democrats.
Because it's not like the DNC has stepped in to change things up in political races after primary season, amirite?
The primary was over, and the general election had begun. Piker's usefulness with the activist left now came attached to a political cost with independents, moderates, and Jewish Democrats.
El-Sayed's language changed when the voters he needs changed.
His DSA dance makes the cleanup on Aisle 4 harder to sell. El-Sayed insists he isn't a socialist and says he's neither technically nor practically a DSA member. Yet he attended at least six DSA events from 2017 through 2020, headlined a 2019 fundraiser, and was later described by organizers as a "longtime friend of Detroit DSA."
Socialist allies have supported him, and Piker comfortably fits inside the political coalition that helped propel him through the primary.
A membership card doesn't settle the political question. Voters can judge the company a candidate keeps, the causes he embraces, and the people he welcomes when their audiences are useful.
Which brings us to the question Democrats would rather bury underneath another carefully worded campaign statement:
If Hasan Piker's views are so far outside El-Sayed's politics that voters shouldn't connect the two, why was Piker close enough to the campaign when El-Sayed needed progressive primary voters?
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed is free to answer, while Michigan voters are free to notice when the answer changes after Election Day moves from August to November.
Maybe no DNC memo exists; maybe nobody had to send one.
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