An opinion column published in the Post argues that Twitch streamer and Democratic campaign surrogate Hasan Piker told Axios the United States has caused "tremendous terror all around the world" and is worse than al Qaeda "pound-for-pound, as far as the number of deaths." The column asks why Democrats who have appeared with Piker, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, have not disavowed him, and states that Piker and El-Sayed took a selfie with young fans following a campaign event at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
Opinion column faults Piker's America remark, presses El-Sayed on ties
An opinion column published in the Post argues that Twitch streamer and Democratic campaign surrogate Hasan Piker told Axios the United States has caused "tremendous terror all around the world" and is worse than al Qaeda "pound-for-pound, as far as the number of deaths." The column asks why Democrats who have appeared with Piker, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, have not disavowed him, and states that Piker and El-Sayed took a selfie with young fans following a campaign event at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
The column states that during a sit-down with Axios' Alex Thompson, the journalist reminded Piker that he had once deemed the United States "the top dog in terrorism" before asking: "Do you think America, then, is worse than al Qaeda?" Piker replied as quoted above.
The column states that El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and received his medical degree from Columbia. It states that he has repeatedly brushed aside questions about his association with Piker and that he introduced Piker into the contest.
The column states that Piker wore a Mao costume earlier this year, and that Piker has acknowledged that El-Sayed differentiates from him on discrete issues for political reasons. The column says El-Sayed will not draw a hard line between himself and Piker because, in the column's words, "fundamentally, they believe the same things."
The column cites a 2021 statement in which El-Sayed marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 by saying he would "mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetrated ignorantly in the name of my country."
The column names Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib among the figures it says have bonded with Piker or sought to capitalize on his rising star. It states that Sanders prefers Piker to his Republican colleagues and to Democratic strategist James Carville, and describes Mamdani as the mayor.
The column states that a little under seven weeks remain until the midterms, and that few Democrats are willing to call Piker and his worldview "what they are," while those who do "earn withering rebukes from their peers."
- The source does not name the author of the opinion column or state its publication date.
- The source does not state when, where or in what outlet Piker described the United States as "the top dog in terrorism."
- The source does not state the date of the Axios interview with Piker or say whether Piker was asked to respond to the column.
- The source does not state whether El-Sayed was asked about Piker's comparison of the United States with al Qaeda; it says only that he has brushed aside questions about the association more broadly.
- The source does not state when Piker wore a Mao costume or where that account comes from.
- The source states that a little under seven weeks remain until the midterms while also dating the campaign event to April 7, 2026; the source does not reconcile the two.
- The source does not name any Democrat who has criticized Piker or any who has rebuked those who did.
Read the original at New York Post