Abdul El-Sayed distances from Hasan Piker — kind of

Is Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed distancing himself from controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker? That’s the headline, but it’s not quite true. I’d say it’s a tepid distancing at best. Itty bitty distancing.

First, Hasan Piker made some truly awful (but entirely characteristic) comments about how Jewish people are really sort of just asking for it with those whole supporting Israel thing — sooner or later, somebody’s going to do something bad to the Jews because they like Israel. Seriously, that’s the gist of what he said .

Now, those comments were specifically aimed at Jeremy Moss, a Michigan state senator and Democrat who has been reluctant to endorse El-Sayed due to his proximity to the relentless Israel critic. And they’re truly vile sentiments. In the first place, likening the state of Israel to ISIS is simply ridiculous. Again, for the thousandth time, it’s fine to criticize Israel or disagree with its government or think that it’s caused too much destruction in Gaza. But you’re living in a delusion if you think Israel is like ISIS only Jewish.

Piker is living in that delusion though, and he thinks it’s so obvious that Israel is ISIS levels of bad that someone, I guess, is going to come along and hurt Jewish people unless they really turn on Israel.

I should note that this is already happening: There is rising antisemitism on both the left and the right and, yes, it’s partly because Israel’s popularity has declined. It’s one thing to recognize that fact, and it’s quite another to imply — as Hasan Piker assuredly did — that the Jews basically deserve it unless they disassociate from Israel entirely. It’s basically very similar to the discourse around America deserving 9/11 , one of Piker’s earlier controversial remarks.

But Piker was also directing this comment at Moss very significantly, including by sharing a picture of him. What he’s implying is, denounce Israel or else who knows what’s going to happen. Something very bad.

And he’s been called out for it by Democrats, including Rep. Hillary Scholten .

Scholten has also been reluctant to endorse El-Sayed. So El-Sayed, who campaigned alongside Piker and chose him to be a surrogate and spokesperson, is finally speaking up — sort of. El-Sayed put out a statement that he claimed was aimed at Piker’s comments about Moss, although he doesn’t mention either of them in the statement. He writes:

“I believe all Americans deserve the right to advocate for what they believe without fear of violence. This is particularly true for communities that have been intimidated for their beliefs in the past. My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters. Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk. But I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”

OK, but El-Sayed clearly tried to cash in on Piker’s star power by associating with him. If he now wants to disassociate, he’s got to say it more explicitly than that.

What’s really happening is that El-Sayed can read polling data, and he’s concerned he could actually blow this race, even in a political environment that’s maximally unfriendly for Republicans. So he’s distancing himself ever so slightly.

Of course, I suspect El-Sayed might actually agree with the spirit of what Piker said. In fact, when Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., was attacked by a deranged man, an Arab American who had lost family members in Lebanon, El-Sayed said repeatedly, “hurt people hurt people.”

That’s probably why some Jewish Michiganders are having trouble supporting him. Because they don’t see a tremendous amount of distance between Hasan Piker and Abdul El-Sayed.

And some Democrats understand that this is a problem, even very progressive ones. Activist Cameron Kasky wrote on X : “Hasan Piker is absolutely a ‘problem’ for Democrats. Centrists are attacking our party over him instead of the authoritarianism and corruption unfolding literally right before our eyes.

“Republicans are laughing about it,” he continues. “We are fabricating an electoral weakness out of thin air.”

Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.