4 minPolitics
El-Sayed Faces Backlash Over 9/11 Message and Hasan Piker Ties
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, drew sharp criticism after posting a 9/11 remembrance message that critics tied to his association with streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America deserved the attacks.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, ignited a firestorm of criticism after sharing a 9/11 remembrance message on social media, with critics quickly linking the post to his past association with progressive streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly claimed that the United States deserved the September 11 attacks.
In the message posted to his X account, El-Sayed wrote that the attackers «didn’t just attack America that day» but «attacked the idea of America.» He described the nation as «a place where freedom and commitment to justice bind us, even if, at times, we struggle to fully realize it,» and said the day was one to «remember the lives that were taken from us in a terrible act of terrorism.»
The post drew immediate backlash from conservative commentators and Republican operatives, many of whom pointed to El-Sayed’s friendship with Piker, a Twitch streamer who has gone viral for saying the U.S. «deserved 9/11.» The Libs of TikTok account called El-Sayed a «FRAUD,» while GOP consultant Ryan Girdusky wrote that «campaigning with a guy who said we deserved 9/11… his brazen dishonesty makes him all the bigger piece of s---.»
Steve Guest, a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, posted a photo of Piker and El-Sayed standing together with the caption «This you?» and included another Piker quote: «I hate America… at least I say it with my f---ing chest.» Joanna Rodriguez, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said El-Sayed was «a disgrace» and «unwilling to disavow your chief spokesman who said ‘America deserved 9/11.’» She added that he «belittled the American lives lost year after year while giving excuses and showing sympathy for terrorists.»
Joey Mannarino, co-founder of the Overton Institute, expressed disbelief that El-Sayed remained competitive in the Senate race. «How in God’s name is Abdul El-Sayed even close to winning this race?» he wrote. «The man campaigns with people who say America deserved 9/11. He is a radical Islamist extremist if I’ve ever seen one. And this is who Michigan wants to put in the Senate?»
El-Sayed has previously sought to distance himself from some of Piker’s statements, saying after Piker called Israel a «Jewish ISIS» that «nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokesperson.» He added that while «politicians and pundits try to make this race about a Twitch streamer, we’re going to be talking about gas, groceries, good schools and healthcare.»
Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter with The Washington Free Beacon, noted that El-Sayed’s latest 9/11 post differed from his past anniversary messages by omitting any mention of the wars that followed the attacks, a topic El-Sayed has frequently invoked. In October 2023, as Israel prepared to strike Gaza, El-Sayed wrote that he couldn’t «help but hear echoes of 9/11» and asked, «When do we learn that more violence doesn’t fix violence?»
The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to requests for comment on why he had not made more efforts to disavow Piker. The episode underscores the ongoing political volatility surrounding the Michigan Senate race, where El-Sayed’s progressive alliances continue to draw scrutiny from Republican opponents and conservative media.
