The Piker Problem

As the American midterm elections inch ever closer, the old adage of “the friends they keep” has never been more relevant. Now, it is unfair to cast aspersions on somebody due to their acquaintances’ moral failings. Perhaps they kept their questionable opinions secret, or perhaps they only unleashed them on those closest to them. But it is an entirely different matter when someone proudly exposes their noxious views, which brings us to Hasan Piker.

Hasan Piker is truly one of a kind, being uniquely detestable: He has openly stated that he hates the United States, he bemoans the collapse of the Soviet Union, he has insulted survivors of Communist regimes, he has belittled the memory of September 11th, he has praised the Taliban and mocked Dan Crenshaw (a soldier, now representative, who lost his eye fighting to liberate Afghanistan), and the list goes on and on. Since October 7th, like other social media personalities desperate for attention and subscription revenue, Piker has constantly spread falsehoods against not only Israel, but the Jewish people too. This champagne socialist, who wouldn’t know what to do with either a hammer or a sickle, and who condemns capitalism from his million-dollar mansion, has now taken up the keffiyeh in support of the Palestinian people. Or, more accurately, he has taken up the cause to bash, demean, and dehumanize Israel and her people.

Bilious firebrands like Piker are one of the reasons why so many young people, frustrated at life but misdirecting their rage, are swinging so far to the Left and furiously standing with the Palestinian cause despite knowing little, if anything, about the region, its history, or the current conflict. And this is exactly why so many Democrats are flocking to him before the election in the hopes of garnering support from his hordes of angsty pseudo-communists.

The most glaring example of this is Abdul El-Sayed. A curiously ill-tempered and obnoxious candidate, El-Sayed openly campaigned with Piker on his way to winning the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat in Michigan. They were filmed together, made public appearances together, and even celebrated poolside the day before the primary. El-Sayed knew Piker’s venomous past and did not care. He openly embraced him to win his party’s nomination, and it worked: he narrowly defeated Representative Haley Stevens and now faces Republican Mike Rogers in November. Even Stevens, his former rival, has since urged him to cut ties with Piker. Now, why would El-Sayed have allied himself with Piker to begin with? Either he is a cunning and unprincipled politician who will sell his soul to the devil for power, or he secretly agrees with Piker. Both stances are utterly unacceptable.

Another flamboyantly anti-Israel figure, the one and only Representative Ilhan Omar, recently sat down with Piker for an interview. Again, why? Her past comments on Israel, and her thinly veiled antisemitic remarks, suggest she shares many of his views. How can we forget her infamous quip about how some people did “something” on September 11th? Or her suggestion that supporters of Israel hold an “allegiance” to a foreign country, which many saw as a dual-loyalty trope? Or the remark, widely read as implying that money buys American policy on Israel, that drew criticism from Jewish colleagues in her own party? Birds of a feather, perhaps. Her joining Piker on his podcast should raise alarm bells for the upcoming election.

Now, it is one thing for social media “influencers” to speak without truly knowing anything. That is how many of them make their imprint on today’s society. It is quite another thing for those seeking to govern the people of the United States to tether themselves to such lewd and crude individuals. And let us be clear: this is not a problem unique to the Left. The Right has its own demigods to be sure, but those running for office are not campaigning with them. They are not arm in arm with them on stage, they are not shooting the breeze on their podcasts, nor are they elevating spiteful demagogues to the national stage.

If those who have allied themselves with the likes of Hasan Piker get into power, make no mistake: the already dangerous reality faced by many American Jews will become ever more precarious. Back in 2019, when there was a push for an official condemnation of Omar’s comments, pushback from a bloc of Democrats, led by the party’s progressive wing, diluted the resolution until it condemned bigotry of every kind, with no focus on the antisemitic imagery in her remarks. If more politicians like these reach positions of power, the plight of American Jews will be overlooked, and every grievance will be tossed into a pile of talking points, with little action to address the rising tide of antisemitism in this country.

Let the adage ring true: tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.