Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed addressed controversial comments made by streamer Hasan Piker during an appearance Monday on CNN’s “OutFront,” calling Piker’s remark that America deserved the September 11 attacks “a dumb comment.”
Host Erin Burnett asked El-Sayed whether he agreed with fellow Michigan Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell, who had also been questioned about Piker’s comments that America is worse than al-Qaeda in terms of the deaths it causes. Burnett told El-Sayed, “I’m so sick of talking about Hasan Piker, and I want Hasan Piker to go away.”
El-Sayed said he would rather talk about issues affecting Michigan residents. “I would like to be talking about the things that matter to Michiganders, which [are] gas and groceries, and the ability to see a doctor,” he said. “I do understand that people like to make this race about a streamer in California.”
El-Sayed suggested his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, benefits from keeping attention on Piker rather than on economic concerns. “It’s a comfortable thing for somebody like Mike Rogers to have, to talk about a streamer in California, because he does not want to talk about the issues that Michiganders are facing, whether that’s the insane price of gas or the price of groceries because of the Iran War, or it’s the fact that we’re having to pay so much more to lose our jobs because of the tariffs,” he said.
“This race has never been about a streamer in California,” El-Sayed added. “This race has always been about Michiganders and what they need. So, yeah, I’m tired of talking about a streamer in California. I’m going to continue to talk about gas, groceries, the ability to see a doctor in Michigan.”
Burnett pressed further, noting that Piker had defended and supported El-Sayed’s campaign, and asked how he planned to distance himself from the comments. “How do you unstick yourself?” she asked.
“It’s a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment, and they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power, aside from his stream,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed argued attention should instead go toward policy decisions with broader consequences. “Rather than talk about the guy who has a lot of power to make dumb wars that we’re paying for, whether it’s an actual war in Iran that everybody could have told him he wasn’t going to be able to get out of, or it’s a trade war with Canada, like, our best neighbor and the people who preemptively apologize for things,” he said.
