On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said Hasan Piker’s remark that America deserved 9/11 was “a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment, and they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power” other than his stream.
Host Erin Burnett asked, “Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) was asked about Piker’s recent comments that America is worse than al-Qaeda in terms of the deaths [it] causes. … Do you agree with her? I’m so sick of talking about Hasan Piker, and I want Hasan Piker to go away?”
El-Sayed responded, “I would like to be talking about the things that matter to Michiganders, which [are] gas and groceries, and the ability to see a doctor. I do understand that people like to make this race about a streamer in California. It’s a comfortable thing for somebody like Mike Rogers to have, to talk about a streamer in California, because he does not want to talk about the issues that Michiganders are facing, whether that’s the insane price of gas or the price of groceries because of the Iran War, or it’s the fact that we’re having to pay so much more to lose our jobs because of the tariffs. And so, yes, they want to make this about a streamer in California. This race has never been about a streamer in California. This race has always been about Michiganders and what they need. So, yeah, I’m tired of talking about a streamer in California. I’m going to continue to talk about gas, groceries, the ability to see a doctor in Michigan.”
Burnett then asked, “So — but when he says something like America deserved 9/11, what do you do about that? He defended you and supported you, right? That’s part of the reason why you’ve been stuck with this. How do you unstick yourself?”
El-Sayed answered, “Erin, the reason that keeps coming up is because it is a talking point for people who don’t want to actually talk about real issues. It’s a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment, and they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power, aside from his stream, rather than talk about the guy who has a lot of power to make dumb wars that we’re paying for, whether it’s an actual war in Iran that everybody could have told him he wasn’t going to be able to get out of, or it’s a trade war with Canada, like, our best neighbor and the people who preemptively apologize for things.”
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