Last week, Saikat Chakrabarti, a congressional hopeful, was spotted with online influencer Hasan Piker at San Francisco’s iconic Key Food Market liquor store. Chakrabarti expressed admiration for Piker, describing him as both a “friend” and “good person” despite the latter’s controversial reputation.

Their visit took place shortly before resurfaced videos revealed Piker unleashing offensive tirades against Asian Americans, derogatorily referring to them as “dogs for white people” and hurling insults at a female Vietnamese refugee who shared her community’s reasons for supporting President Donald Trump.

Chakrabarti, who formerly worked for prominent progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, seemed unfazed by Piker’s contentious remarks. Now vying for the congressional seat previously held by Nancy Pelosi, Chakrabarti aims to represent San Francisco, a city with a significant Asian demographic comprising about a third of its residents.

Attempts to reach Chakrabarti for comments regarding the controversial videos went unanswered.

On April 4, Chakrabarti shared a video on his campaign’s social media, highlighting his day out with Piker. The footage shows them entering Key Food Market, where Chakrabarti introduces Piker to the owner, saying, “I brought a friend.”

During their visit, the pair also interacted with the store owner’s cat, which amusingly perched on Piker’s shoulders.

“That’s how you know you’re a good person, when a cat wants to jump on you, right?” Chakrabarti commented.

Later, Piker seemingly endorses Chakrabarti, telling the owner, “You got to get his back,” while pointing to the candidate.

In a later stream, Piker reacted to the video of their hangout. He said Chakrabarti was showing the left-wing streamer around San Francisco’s landmarks after Piker did a speech at the University of San Francisco Law School.

The candidate has hung with the streamer in the past as well, showing up on his stream earlier in the year. Chakrabarti touted his progressive goals during his appearance and apparently won over Piker.

Piker gushed then that Chakrabarti was “knocking it out of the park for every question.”

“Stop! You’re doing this on purpose,” the streamer exclaimed. “I gotta grab a drink.”

Chakrabarti is running against state Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisor Connie Chan for the congressional seat.

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