El-Sayed Calls 9/11 Comments 'Dumb' But Won't Rule Out Campaigning With Piker Again

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, called far-left streamer Hasan Piker's 2019 comment that America deserved the 9/11 attacks "a dumb statement" during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. He stopped short of cutting ties with Piker going forward.

Host Kristen Welker asked El-Sayed directly whether he agreed with Senator Bernie Sanders, who called Piker's remark dumb, and whether he disavowed the comment. "Of course, of course, it was a dumb statement, and of course, I think Hasan himself would say that was a dumb statement. He disavowed it. So yes, America didn't deserve 9/11," El-Sayed said.

He then pushed back on the line of questioning itself. "To sit here and play gotcha politics with dumb things somebody said out of context that they disavowed themselves and say, 'Oh, well, what does that mean about what you think?' I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do, rather than this idea that we're so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020, but we seem to want to bring back," he said.

Welker pressed further, asking whether El-Sayed would continue campaigning with Piker through the general election. He didn't rule it out. "I'm less concerned now with who I'm campaigning with and a lot more concerned about who I'm campaigning to. We got a lot of work to do to continue to build the coalition that's going to beat Mike Rogers," he said, referring to his Republican opponent.

Asked point-blank if he'd welcome Piker back on the trail, El-Sayed didn't say no. Instead he defended reaching Piker's audience: "I think we have this notion sometimes on shows like this that we cannot or should not talk to certain groups of people. And I will tell you that the three million people who listen to Hasan are people I want to make sure understand that there's a pathway into our politics."

Piker's record goes beyond the one 2019 remark. The New York Post detailed additional controversies: Piker has said the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel was a "direct consequence" of Israeli actions, and said that if Hamas engaged in rape during the attack, "it doesn't change the dynamic for me." He's also drawn criticism for praising the "brave mujahideen" who shot and wounded Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, and for a comment suggesting Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida should be killed. The Post also reported Piker was photographed with a framed newspaper front page showing the Twin Towers' aftermath after his walk-back of the 9/11 remark.

None of these additional Piker controversies were raised in the NBC interview itself, based on the available transcript. El-Sayed's answer addressed only the specific 9/11 comment Welker asked about.

El-Sayed campaigned alongside Piker repeatedly during his primary against establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, which he won. Rogers, the Republican nominee, has already used the Piker association in attack ads tying El-Sayed to the "America deserved 9/11" comment. Michigan's Senate seat is considered competitive and could factor into which party controls the chamber after November.

There's a reasonable case for El-Sayed's framing here: politicians shouldn't be forced to disown every controversial thing said by anyone who ever shared a stage with them, especially when the person in question walked the comment back. Guilt-by-association attacks are a real and overused tactic in modern campaigns, and "cancel culture" concerns about relitigating disavowed statements aren't invented out of thin air.

But that defense gets harder to sustain given Piker's broader pattern. The 9/11 comment isn't an isolated one-off from years ago that Piker has since moved past. The October 7 comments and the remarks about Crenshaw and Scott are more recent and go to a consistent worldview, not a single bad joke. El-Sayed's answer treated the question as if it were solely about the 9/11 line, without addressing whether he's comfortable with Piker's other statements about violence against sitting members of Congress.

Separately, in the same interview, El-Sayed acknowledged his Medicare for All plan would likely raise costs for middle-class taxpayers. He compared the tax increase to money currently deducted for private health insurance premiums, arguing families would trade one deduction for another. "So for the average person, when you look at your W2... the next biggest check that comes off the top of your pay stub is to your health-insurance company," he said, adding that he thinks the trade "is worth making." That's a notable admission from a candidate who has otherwise emphasized taxing the wealthy, and it gives Rogers a specific, on-record quote to use between now and November.

Whether El-Sayed continues appearing alongside Piker before the general election is now the open question. Rogers' campaign has signaled it plans to keep the association front and center.