The name that has been all over the headlines of one of the most closely watched Senate races of the midterms belongs to a man most voters have never heard of. Hasan Piker, the 34-year-old left-wing commentator whose Twitch channel draws millions of viewers, has grown close enough to Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed that Republicans now call him El-Sayed's running mate. A national survey of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters found six in 10 had never heard of him.
The Echelon Insights poll, conducted in April, found that Piker remains largely unknown among Democratic voters, underscoring the gap between his enormous online following and his reach with the broader electorate. Party leaders are consumed by him anyway. Last week, Piker told his audience that American Jews who keep insisting they are not "singularly invested" in Israel are inviting violence against themselves.
He illustrated the point with an image of Michigan state Senator Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish and had already told a Michigan newspaper that a viral audio clip attacking his support for Israel was fabricated. After the post gained traction, Grand Rapids Representative Hillary Scholten responded Monday, calling Piker a "hack." Moss followed, saying he would not be lectured by "a podcaster from California." Both were making the same argument: Piker has no place in Michigan politics. The episode also caught the attention of former Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who is running for the Michigan Senate seat.
He did what Republicans have spent the better part of five months doing and used Piker to attack El-Sayed. By Tuesday, the criticism had climbed to the top of House Democratic leadership. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had largely stayed out of his party's far-left surge until now, told CNN that "the malicious claim that American Jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and antisemitic." Florida Representative Josh Gottheimer, New York Representative Ritchie Torres, Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen and Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin all released social media posts condemning Piker.
The streamer responded by saying the politicians were "unanimous in their hatred" of him and that he welcomed it. He added that if they "defend Israel's genocide, its occupation, and its child killing spree," then "your boos mean nothing to me." Newsweek reached out to Piker and El-Sayed's campaign for comment Tuesday. But none of these statements have damaged his popularity, specifically among younger audiences.
Piker did not arrive at the center of the political conversation by accident. The Democratic Party spent 2024 experimenting with exactly this kind of figure, inviting more than 200 social media creators to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago alongside a lineup of Hollywood names. Piker was among the invitees before he was pushed out over his criticism of the party's handling of Gaza.
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