Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Friday defended his description of streamer Hasan Piker as simply “a California streamer,” telling MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” that Piker “wasn’t a big part of my campaign” and that “we had him to Michigan once.”
Co-host Joe Scarborough pressed El-Sayed on the characterization, noting that he had previously criticized Piker over comments comparing al-Qaeda and the United States, yet had also called him just a streamer despite the two having campaigned together. “Don’t you think that’s disingenuous just to call him, like, a California streamer when you know the guy, you campaigned with the guy, he was a big part of your campaign?” Scarborough asked.
El-Sayed replied that candidates routinely talk to a wide range of people during a campaign. “He wasn’t a big part of my campaign. We had him to Michigan once. People, in the course of a campaign — and you know this, Joe — will have conversations with all kinds of people,” he said. “And, to me, it’s really important, not just to have a conversation with an individual. I’m on your show, Joe, because I want to talk to the audience who’s watching you right now. And the problem in our democracy, too often, is we say who we cannot talk to, rather than asking, how do we bring these folks back into an electoral fold? He said some things I agree with.”
Scarborough then brought up how Ronald Reagan handled support from members of the John Birch Society and said he understood backing from people a candidate doesn’t fully agree with, before again asking whether calling Piker “a California streamer” minimizes his role in the primary.
“Here’s my issue: At the end of the day, right? He is a streamer in California. And the issue that everybody’s focused on, as we talked about, is the price of gas and groceries in Michigan,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed pivoted to criticizing his opponent, Mike Rogers, saying Rogers “literally goes to Dallas instead of showing up to a debate in Detroit, to campaign with Donald Trump, who, not only says crazy stuff every day, but does crazy stuff that costs you money, the tariff war, the war in Iran.” He added, “it’s frustrating to me that I never hear about Hasan Piker on the doors. I never hear about him outside of conversations that are —” before Scarborough cut in to agree.
Later in the interview, El-Sayed said reaching voters who follow particular media figures sometimes means engaging with commentators across the political spectrum. “You’ve got to speak through that channel or that creator, and that puts you in positions where you might be having a conversation mediated by somebody who’s said things you disagree with, whether that’s Jesse Watters or Hasan Piker. And so, I just go everywhere and talk to everyone,” he said.
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