\n<\/p>\n
Hasan Piker, the leftist streamer who once said that America \u201cdeserved 9\/11\u201d and has sympathized with Hezbollah and Hamas, was defended on the pages of The New York Times on Sunday after he campaigned with a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan.<\/p>\n
In a 2,000-word article<\/a> that was originally titled \u201cHasan Piker is not the Enemy,\u201d New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein acknowledged some of Piker\u2019s controversial comments, including his support for designated terrorist groups, but argued that \u201cto focus only on those comments is to miss much else that Piker has said and believes.\u201d Klein also suggested that Democrats would be unwise to brush Piker off and refuse to appear on his show because of his large social media following and his appeal among the younger and more radical segments of the Left.<\/p>\n The streamer has also gained national attention for expressing support for radical Islamic terrorists while calling Republicans \u201cthe biggest terrorists\u201d in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,\u201d Piker said during a recent appearance on the popular leftist podcast \u201cPod Save America.\u201d At another point of the podcast, Piker said<\/a>, \u201cThe biggest terrorists, the biggest domestic terrorist in this country, the biggest terrorist internationally is the Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Klein, statements like these shouldn\u2019t scare Democrats away from Piker. The New York Times columnist also argued that just because Piker has voiced support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s a \u201cJew hater.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have deep disagreements with Piker, but he isn\u2019t a \u2018Jew hater.\u2019 He\u2019s an anti-Zionist. And here, I think, the real stakes of this fight come into view,\u201d Klein wrote before going into a long defense of Piker\u2019s anti-Israel views.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael, as it is behaving today, and as it is constructing itself for tomorrow, is incompatible with any normal understanding of liberal values,\u201d Klein continued.<\/p>\n The New York Times columnist did not say if Piker\u2019s cheering for designated terror groups is in line with liberal values. Instead, Klein touted Piker\u2019s support for Jewish Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA).<\/p>\n On Monday, the Times changed the headline on Klein\u2019s opinion article from \u201cHasan Piker is not the Enemy\u201d to \u201cThis is Why There\u2019s No Liberal Joe Rogan.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of Klein\u2019s defense of Piker focuses on how the Democratic Party pushed cancel culture to its own detriment. Klein points out that most Democrats either condemned or ignored podcaster Joe Rogan in the lead-up to and during the 2024 presidential election cycle, paving the way for Republicans to capitalize on Rogan\u2019s massive audience with very little counter-messaging.<\/p>\n \u201cIn avoiding those spaces, Democrats avoided contact with the kinds of voters they otherwise claimed to represent,\u201d Klein wrote. \u201cThis is the mistake Democrats often make when they talk about what they did wrong in 2024. They realize, now, that they should try to talk to the people who listen to these shows; they are less likely to realize that they should listen to the people who talk on these shows.\u201d<\/p>\n Klein then argued that Piker represents another opportunity for Democrats to reach voters, and he questioned the reasoning of Democrats, such as Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who have declined invitations to appear on Piker\u2019s show.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re dealing with podcasters or streamers who talk, unstructured and unrehearsed, for hours each week, if not every day, there\u2019s going to be so much said that it\u2019s almost inevitable that a dossier of dumb statements can be compiled,\u201d Klein wrote. \u201cTo write those people out of acceptable political discourse is to back yourself into a shrinking, sanitized corner of the public sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats who are approaching Piker correctly in Klein\u2019s view are Sen. Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have all either appeared on Piker\u2019s show or collaborated with Piker in some form. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has also said he is open to appearing on Piker\u2019s show.<\/p>\n Most recently, Piker campaigned with U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan as El-Sayed hopes to win a competitive Democratic primary.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a battle brewing,\u201d Piker said<\/a> at a campaign event with El-Sayed. \u201cA battle brewing not only against the corrupt fascist forces of the Republican Party, but also against do-nothing Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n