{"id":20683,"date":"2026-03-28T15:18:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-some-democrats-want-to-shut-off-hasan-pikers-megaphone\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T15:18:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:18:03","slug":"why-some-democrats-want-to-shut-off-hasan-pikers-megaphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-some-democrats-want-to-shut-off-hasan-pikers-megaphone\/","title":{"rendered":"Why some Democrats want to shut off Hasan Piker\u2019s \u2018megaphone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hasan Piker\u2019s new role as a midterm surrogate and potential influence on the 2028 presidential race is driving a wedge in the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

After Blue Light News reported that Piker, the far left political streamer<\/u><\/a> with millions of followers, will stump in Michigan with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed next month, his history of divisive comments launched an avalanche of criticism from Republicans and Democrats.<\/p>\n

Two of El-Sayed\u2019s opponents, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens, lambasted El-Sayed, with Stevens telling Jewish Insider <\/u><\/a>\u201csomeone who\u2019s campaigning with someone like that is not going to win in Michigan\u201d and McMorrow saying<\/u><\/a> Piker \u201csays extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks and views and followers, which is not entirely different from somebody like Nick Fuentes,\u201d comparing him to the antisemite nationalist influencer.<\/p>\n

Piker\u2019s rise as a Democratic influencer and surrogate coincides with the party\u2019s long search for a path out of the wilderness, particularly in recapturing young men.<\/p>\n

Piker is scheduled to appear on a livestreamed, \u201cChoose Your Fighter\u201d rally organized by Progressive Victory at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is among the list of attendees. Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Planter was originally billed as a participant, but he pulled out of the event. (A person familiar told Blue Light News that Platner\u2019s planned appearance was a miscommunication.) And on Sunday, Piker will rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at a tax-the-rich<\/u><\/a> rally.<\/p>\n

The question over Piker\u2019s prominence also comes as both the Republican and Democratic parties ask fundamental questions about how big their tents should be.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the out-of-power Democrats who face the higher short-term stakes.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Blue Light News, Piker downplayed accusations that have been leveled against him, like center-left think tank Third Way,<\/u><\/a> whose leaders wrote in a WSJ op-ed that Piker had a history of anti-American, antiwomen, anti-Western and antisemitic comments. Piker said Third Way was \u201closing their institutional relevance.\u201d He also said he\u2019s merely channeling, not changing, the attitudes of the Democratic base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m a megaphone, right?\u201d Piker told Blue Light News. \u201cThere are a lot of Barbs and Deborahs out there in Minneapolis, for example, that have never encountered me, and yet they share that frustration with the failures of establishment liberalism all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piker said those type of voters view Democrats as \u201cineffective, inept.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not because they tune into The HasanAbi broadcast every day,\u201d he said, referencing his Twitch channel. \u201cThey arrive at that conclusion because the Democrats lost to Trump twice. With the same principle that you got to pivot to the mythical moderate center.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Piker\u2019s first rodeo: He livestreamed an interview<\/u><\/a> last year with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders before one of the duo\u2019s \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d rallies. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also sat for an interview <\/u><\/a>with Piker last year.<\/p>\n

But Piker\u2019s increasing coziness with prominent Democrats also comes as some in the party argue he poses a problem for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cPiker is close to \u2014 but not over \u2014 the Nick Fuentes line, where going on his show itself is indefensible,\u201d Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett, who\u2019s been sounding the alarm about Democrats\u2019 affiliation with Piker, told Blue Light News. Bennett added that Democrats \u201ctake on all of his baggage if they don\u2019t overtly reject\u201d him, which he said is \u201cdangerous because it empowers the right and gives them an incredibly powerful tool to hit Democrats with that\u2019s very bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some Democrats like Khanna argue that the party needs to assemble a broad coalition. \u201cThat must include engaging with Israel critics like Hasan Piker as Pod Save hosts have done and many progressive candidates have done,\u201d Khanna told Blue Light News. \u201cOf course, I disagree strongly with some of his statements and point that out. But cancelling people or shaming people like Hasan Piker, Shawn Ryan or Theo Vonn is not the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate over Piker\u2019s place within the party is set to play out across the 2028 field, too.<\/p>\n

Blue Light News surveyed 14 potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, asking whether they would appear on a livestream with Piker if invited. Only three definitively said they would.<\/p>\n

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) all said they wouldn\u2019t go on Piker\u2019s stream through spokespeople. \u201cMr. Piker\u2019s terrible comments about Jewish people, 9\/11, and other areas aren\u2019t the kinds of conversations Cory participates in and he will not be joining him on his stream,\u201d an aide to Booker told Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

So who would<\/i> appear on Piker\u2019s stream? Khanna, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Rahm Emanuel. (Ocasio-Cortez has already appeared, but a spokesperson did not return a request for comment).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not on the agenda right now, but the Governor has never shied away from debating anyone, anywhere,\u201d Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon told Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

Said an Emanuel spokesperson: \u201cRahm is always willing to have difficult conversations with anyone about the future of the country, and to tell people he disagrees with why they\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aides to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declined to comment. Aides to former Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker did not respond.<\/p>\n

Asked about some of his controversial past comments, Piker didn\u2019t retract any of them. Asked if he had ever misspoken: \u201cMisspoken? No. Taken out of context? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did point to one particular quote of his about the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which he noted often comes up when he\u2019s criticized.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the quotes that they love floating around is the Oct. 7 quote where I said, like, rape\u2019s happening, like the conversation around, like, sexual violence taking place on October 7 doesn’t change the dynamic for me. And I was talking about genocide. I was like, this doesn’t justify genocide at all,\u201d Piker said.<\/p>\n

As for the other quotes he catches heat for? \u201cNo, I stand by them,\u201d Piker said.<\/p>\n

So who does Piker like for 2028? He\u2019s got a short list. \u201cI said [Georgia Sen. Jon] Ossoff will be my dark horse pick, depending on how he presents himself if he has ambitions for higher office. I do love [UAW President] Shawn Fain personally. I like an outsider pick. I like Ro Khanna. I like AOC. I actually like [Sen.] Chris Van Hollen, quite a bit as well, even.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the criticism cuts both ways. \u201cAt the end of the day, of course, I have disagreements with every single one of these candidates,\u201d Piker said. \u201cNo candidate is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

An adviser to one potential 2028 candidate, granted anonymity to appraise Piker\u2019s influence, told Blue Light News they expect Piker to be a \u201cgatekeeper\u201d in the primary. But Piker isn\u2019t sure how much sway he\u2019ll hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows how things change?\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, this is a very dynamic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like this content? Consider signing up for Blue Light News’s <\/i>Playbook newsletter<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hasan Piker\u2019s new role as a midterm surrogate and potential influence on the 2028 presidential race is driving a wedge in the Democratic Party. After Blue Light News reported that Piker, the far left political streamer with millions of followers, will stump in Michigan with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed next month, his history of divisive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}