The controversy surrounding Hasan Piker 9/11 remarks has once again taken center stage in American political discourse, this time thanks to a tense exchange on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed found himself on the defensive when host Kristen Welker pressed him directly about his ties to the far-left Twitch streamer, whose years-old comment that America “deserved” the September 11 terrorist attacks has followed nearly every politician associated with him. The renewed attention comes just days after El-Sayed narrowly won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, a victory that has thrust his relationship with Piker back into the national spotlight.
What Hasan Piker Actually Said About 9/11
The remark at the heart of the controversy dates back to a 2019 Twitch broadcast, during which Hasan Piker argued that American foreign policy bore responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said, in effect, that America “deserved 9/11” and that the country had “totally brought it on ourselves.” The comment was framed as a critique of U.S. interventionism abroad rather than a defense of al-Qaeda’s actions, but the phrasing itself has proven politically toxic regardless of the surrounding context. Piker walked back the statement two days after making it, though critics have continued to resurface the clip whenever he appears alongside candidates for public office. On a recent stream, Piker said he was tired of apologizing for the remark, noting that he had already done so repeatedly with little apparent effect on how the controversy is covered.
The Meet the Press Confrontation
The latest flashpoint arrived when Kristen Welker directly asked El-Sayed whether he disavowed Piker’s 9/11 comments, referencing the fact that Senator Bernie Sanders had already called the remark “dumb” when asked about it separately. Welker also noted that Piker has made other inflammatory statements, including describing Hamas as a “lesser evil” compared to Israel. El-Sayed responded by acknowledging the comment was a mistake, stating plainly that “America didn’t deserve 9/11,” and confirming that Piker himself had disavowed the remark. However, El-Sayed also pushed back against what he characterized as “gotcha politics,” accusing Welker and his remaining critics on the left of leaning on tactics associated with “cancel culture.” He argued that revisiting a years-old, already-retracted comment amounted to bad-faith politics rather than legitimate accountability.
When Welker pressed further on whether El-Sayed would continue campaigning with Piker in the general election, the candidate notably declined to give a direct answer. He said he was “less concerned now with who I’m campaigning with” and “a lot more concerned about who I’m campaigning to,” a response that drew criticism from both Republican operatives and some Democrats for sidestepping the question entirely. Politico reported that El-Sayed’s continued embrace of Piker, whom he has called “critical” for Democrats to engage with, has drawn criticism from figures across the political spectrum.
Public Interest and Political Fallout
The renewed scrutiny of Hasan Piker’s 9/11 remark has become a recurring theme in the 2026 Michigan Senate race, where El-Sayed is set to face Republican Mike Rogers in the general election. During the Democratic primary, El-Sayed faced criticism from his chief rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, over his decision to campaign alongside Piker ahead of Tuesday’s contest. El-Sayed ultimately won that primary by a narrow single-percentage-point margin after being significantly outspent.
El-Sayed’s answer on “Meet the Press” closely mirrored a similar response Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave when she was asked about Piker’s comments on ABC’s “This Week,” suggesting that Democratic candidates who have accepted Piker’s support are converging on a common strategy: acknowledge the remark was wrong, note that it was disavowed, and pivot to accusing critics of exploiting the moment for political gain. Conservative media outlets, including Fox News, Townhall, The Daily Wire, and The Gateway Pundit, have amplified the story heavily, framing El-Sayed’s answers as evasive and using clips of the exchange to argue that Democrats are unwilling to fully cut ties with Piker. Republican organizations, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee’s research arm, have also circulated footage from the interview and from earlier campaign stops where Piker appeared alongside El-Sayed.
Separately, footage from an earlier campaign stop showed a supporter of El-Sayed suggesting that voters are “stupid” and that the best path to victory involves obscuring certain truths, with both El-Sayed and Piker seen nodding along. That moment has also circulated widely online and added to the broader narrative building around El-Sayed’s association with Piker heading into the general election.
Who Is Hasan Piker
Hasan DoÄŸan Piker, widely known online as HasanAbi, is an American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, podcast host, and left-wing political commentator. Born on July 25, 1991, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Piker was raised in a Muslim household in Istanbul, Turkey, before returning to the United States to attend the University of Miami and later Rutgers University, where he graduated with a degree in political science and communications. He is the nephew of Cenk Uygur, co-founder of the progressive media outlet The Young Turks, where Piker began his media career as a producer and on-air contributor before departing in 2020 to focus full-time on Twitch streaming.
Piker’s channel has grown into one of the most-watched political commentary streams on Twitch, with millions of followers across Twitch and YouTube. He rose to particular prominence during his coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, when his stream reportedly peaked at more than 230,000 concurrent viewers and made him one of the most-watched sources of election coverage across streaming platforms. Piker has also organized charitable fundraising efforts, including relief campaigns following the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, and has been a vocal supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns. Despite his influence with younger, left-leaning audiences, Piker has generated recurring controversy over his commentary on foreign policy, including remarks related to Israel, Hamas, and other geopolitical conflicts, which critics argue have made him a political liability for candidates who accept his endorsement or appear alongside him.
Latest Updates on the Controversy
As of this week, the Hasan Piker 9/11 controversy remains an active storyline in Michigan’s Senate race, with no indication that scrutiny of El-Sayed’s association with Piker is easing. El-Sayed has not confirmed whether he will continue to campaign with Piker during the general election, leaving the question open heading into what is expected to be a competitive contest against Rogers. Conservative outlets continue to publish near-daily coverage of the exchange, while some progressive commentators and outlets, including Rolling Stone, have offered more sympathetic profiles of Piker, framing the criticism as overblown or politically motivated. There is no official confirmation at this time of any additional public comment from Piker himself beyond his earlier remarks expressing frustration with having to repeatedly address the 2019 statement.
It’s also worth noting that El-Sayed’s broader campaign messaging has drawn additional attention this week, including reports that former President Barack Obama spoke with him by phone shortly before the primary, a call that a spokesperson for El-Sayed described as “warm” and focused on uniting Democrats ahead of November. That development, while not directly tied to the Piker controversy, has added to the overall media attention surrounding El-Sayed’s rising national profile.
Final Thoughts
The resurfacing of Hasan Piker’s 9/11 comments illustrates how a single controversial remark from years ago can continue to shape political narratives long after it was made and even after it was publicly retracted. For Abdul El-Sayed, the challenge going forward will be balancing his appeal to the progressive base that Piker helps energize with the broader electability concerns raised by Republicans and some Democrats alike. Whether El-Sayed chooses to keep Piker as a visible campaign presence in the general election, or quietly distances himself from the streamer, is likely to remain a closely watched storyline as Michigan’s Senate race heads toward November. For now, the exchange on “Meet the Press” has cemented the Hasan Piker 9/11 remark as one of the defining flashpoints of the race so far.
Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story, and share your thoughts on the controversy in the comments below.