Under pressure, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan this week rejected Hasan Piker’s argument that the U.S. has caused more terror than Al Qaeda.
Page A2From§Eachthe late evening edition — 17 September 2026
Michigan's 'grassroots' Jewish Democrats against El-Sayed are the same donors who backed 'Jews for Mitt' in 2012.
As it ran on the front
The story starts, as these things do, with a claim of authenticity. On August 26, Common Dreams reported that progressives were accusing "corporatist" Democrats of a "mass psychosis" for their escalating attacks on Hasan Piker, the Twitch streamer who had campaigned for Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate primary. The next day, El-Sayed told Semafor he had "no plans" to campaign with Piker going forward — a hedge, not a break.
By August 31, the hedge had a body count. The Hill reported that Jewish Democrats in Michigan were facing "a moment of reckoning" over their nominee, a reckoning that began the moment El-Sayed beat the more moderate Haley Stevens in the primary. The same day, Piker told Fox News that El-Sayed himself had asked him to stump for the campaign — a claim that, true or not, kept El-Sayed's name stapled to Piker's. And the Washington Examiner, doing its own count, found six Democrats who had publicly distanced themselves from him by name.…
…(cont) The tightrope held until it didn't. On September 2, The Hill described El-Sayed "walking a political tightrope," under pressure to disavow Piker without alienating the wing of the party that had put him there. He never fully did. On September 4, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the entire focus on Piker "absolutely ludicrous." Ten days later, on September 14, Joe Manchin, the former Democratic senator who now backs the Republican candidate, told CNBC he was "not OK" with El-Sayed becoming a senator and endorsed Mike Rogers instead.
Three days after that, on September 17, the receipts caught up with the reckoning. Drop Site News ran the names behind Michigan's newest coalition, organized to move Jewish votes toward Rogers. Many of the signatories, it turned out, had done this donor work before — for "Jews For Mitt," in 2012. The same day, Piker gave the Washington Examiner and Fox News fresh copy, telling Axios the United States was "worse" than al Qaeda, "pound for pound." The Examiner called it "another political layup" for Republicans running against El-Sayed's allies; the New York Times, more carefully, reported that El-Sayed had rejected Piker's argument outright.
By September 18, Piker was back in the wire for saying the Middle East would be more stable with an Iranian bomb. The comment is his. The coalition against him is 2012's, wearing a new nametag. Both landed on the same Senate seat in the same stretch of weeks, and only one of them had to be manufactured to work.
“They didn't need a real grassroots group, they needed the 2012 donor list with a fresh letterhead, and Drop Site just printed the names. Each week El-Sayed spends answering for a Twitch clip is a week the press doesn't ask Mike Rogers about his own donors. Follow the seat, not the streamer.”
“chip”
The receipts
Hasan Piker told Axios that America is worse than al-Qaeda "pound for pound," deepening scrutiny of his ties to Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate race.
In an interview with Axios, progressive Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said the Middle East would be "more stable" if Iran had nuclear weapons.
Hasan Piker’s media blitz is throwing Senate Democrats their latest curveball after declaring the United States “worse” than al Qaeda, renewing scrutiny of the controversial and far-left Twitch streamer’s ties to party candidates. His association with those like Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul el Sayed, for whom Piker has campaigned…
A close look at the signatories reveals many have been involved in past GOP efforts—including “Jews For Mitt” in 2012.
With a little under 7 weeks to go until the midterms, Democratic campaign surrogate and professional meathead Hasan Piker just committed a costly Kinsley gaffe.
· Jewish Dems in Michigan question place in party from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Joe Manchin says he’s not OK with Abdul el Sayed becoming senator, says Mike Rogers will ‘do a great job’ from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· El-Sayed walks political tightrope in Michigan with Hasan Piker from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· El-Sayed says he has 'no plans' to campaign with Piker from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Hasan Piker insists Abdul El-Sayed asked him to 'stump' for Michigan campaign amid backlash from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· 'Mass Psychosis': Corporate Democrats Ripped for Attacks on Anti-Zionist Hasan Piker from the morgue, 26 Aug 2026
· No, Democrats haven’t distanced themselves from Hasan Piker from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Ocasio-Cortez calls focus on Hasan Piker 'absolutely ludicrous' as some Democrats demand distance from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.