Michigan Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has rightly been upbraided for his association with extremist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.
Among the things that Piker said recently was that Democrats who thought that El-Sayed needed to work to reach out to them in Michigan were "Islamophobic pieces of sh**." That's just one of the many comments he's made about more establishment/less extreme Democrats.
READ MORE: More Democrat Chaos in MI: Hasan Piker's Jaw-Dropping Rant and Fetterman's Dare to El-Sayed
Pure Gold: Hasan Piker Throws a Tantrum Over Hong's Loss in Wisconsin
So it's actually pretty funny that Piker came out this past week and demanded that Democrats defend him from criticism, despite those prior comments about them.
✨ @hasanthehun's message to @TheDemocrats: "I know we don't always see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, but you have to literally, at some point, I know you don't want to do this, defend me. Not because you love what I have to say, not because I'm part of this coalition, even… pic.twitter.com/2krP1wEPJo
— adri ♡ (@socialistadri) August 13, 2026
“Democrats, listen to me, I know we don’t always see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, but you have to literally, at some point — I know you don’t want to do this — defend me,” he said.
“Not because you love what I have to say, not because I’m part of this coalition, even though I am, whether you like it or not, but you are going to inevitably have to say, ‘This is a ridiculous conversation that we’re having because the real conversation Republicans don’t want to have is the cost-of-living crisis,’” Piker continued.
He then urged Democrats to accept a political setback in order to challenge how critics portray him.
“That requires you to basically to take the L a little bit and maybe be a bit more honest about how I’m not this dangerous, toxic radical force,” Piker said.
Piker argued that the Democrats should push back more on the criticism of him, rather than letting Republicans make this the "number one f**king issue." He said every moment the Democrats leaned into it, it would become a more 'salient narrative," and then it would be "awful."
That demand takes some kind of nerve, given his prior comments.
Yes, how dare anyone call out what he and the far-left candidates he supports believe? How "awful" if a spotlight is put on how bad those things are. That's the real problem here. That's why he'd rather shift to affordability. Although, quite frankly, that's bad for Democrats too, since inflation under Joe Biden was on average worse than it has been under President Donald Trump.
But why would the more establishment Democrats defend Piker, if he's been slamming them? There's not much in that for them. If they defend him, they effectively become more entangled with him, just as they go to general elections. The candidates Piker backed, El-Sayed and Francesca Hong (the socialist candidate for the Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial nomination), had problems even just with Democrat voters. Hong lost, and El-Sayed barely won. If the Piker connection hurt them in the primaries, wait until the general election. Democrats embracing Piker before the general election would be even worse. Indeed, their best play is to disavow him completely. Actually, if he wanted them to have the best chance, he would tell them to do that. But notice, he isn't doing that.
READ MORE: New: First Warning Signs Emerge for Abdul El-Sayed, and Mike Rogers Has to Be Grinning
While not quite a disavowal, David Crowley, the Democrat who beat out Hong for the nomination for Wisconsin governor, came pretty close. He said he would not be campaigning with Piker. He did say, "I don't want to lend credibility to platforms that I believe further divide us." Former Biden advisor Neera Tanden praised what Crowley said.
My admiratin of this guy is just growing stronger and stronger https://t.co/kO2RacFwW0
— Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) August 13, 2026
But then the guy who had just pleaded with the establishment Democrats to defend him delivered this shot to Tanden.
lay off the booze beera
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) August 13, 2026
Now there's nothing to support that assertion.
But so much for telling the Democrat establishment to come out and defend him.
I'm guessing that isn't coming any time soon.
Bottom line? Democrats got themselves in this pickle with the socialist wing, and now it's going to turn people sour on them.
