MI-SEN: Top El-Sayed ally: It doesn't matter if rapes happened on Oct. 7.

[RandySF]

Tensions over Israel burst into the open in the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan this week after a candidate scheduled rallies with a provocative left-wing streamer who has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and its war in Gaza.

The candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is in a competitive three-way Democratic primary, faced forceful criticism from his opponents and others within his party after announcing that the streamer, Hasan Piker, would join him at rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on April 7.

Mr. Piker’s huge, young following has made him an appealing ally for progressive Democrats. He taped an interview with Zohran Mamdani last year during the New York mayoral race and later attended Mr. Mamdani’s election night party. In 2024, he filmed a stream from the Democratic National Convention. Some have called Mr. Piker the Joe Rogan of the left.

But his statements about Israel have alarmed some Democrats. He has said that the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was the “direct consequence” of actions by the Israeli and U.S. governments and that it “doesn’t matter” if rapes happened on Oct. 7, saying “that doesn’t change the dynamic for me.” Seeming to refer to Hamas-led violence, he also said: “The Palestinian resistance is not perfect.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/us/politics/elsayed-piker-michigan-rally-backlash.html