CNN’s prominent figures have raised concerns regarding Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s decision to collaborate with the contentious streamer Hasan Piker at a recent rally. This alliance has sparked debate within the political arena.

During a recent episode of “Inside Politics,” host Dana Bash brought attention to Piker’s history of controversial statements about Israel. The discussion highlighted the potential impact of his rhetoric on the Democratic Party’s image and El-Sayed’s campaign.

The segment questioned whether the Democratic Party is prepared to support a figure who has publicly defended Hamas on several occasions. This situation has been framed as a potential test of the Democratic Party’s inclusivity and ideological boundaries.

Bash referenced Piker’s previous comments, including a particularly provocative statement he made in 2024 regarding the violence against Jews on October 7, a date marked by profound tragedy in Jewish history. “It doesn’t matter if rapes happened on October 7. Like, that doesn’t change the dynamic for me,” Piker had stated, sparking further controversy.

Piker’s defense of the Palestinian resistance, despite acknowledging its flaws, continues to be a point of contention, reflecting the ongoing debate about the limits of political alliances within the Democratic Party.

‘The Palestinian resistance is not perfect,’ Piker claimed at the time.

Bash also played a clip of Piker, 34, speaking at El-Sayed’s Ann Arbor Rally on Tuesday. Piker, once on-stage, said he was proud of growing support for Palestine. He also complained about being called ‘antisemitic’ and a ‘radical Islamist’ in the past.

Bash saw the remarks as ‘Piker attempting to airbrush his past statements.’ 

Inside Politics’ Dana Bash called attention to far-left streamer Hasan Piker’s past when it comes to the Palestine-Israel conflict on her porgram Wednesday

The segment came in response to Piker’s appearance alongside Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday

Bash then accused Piker of ‘excusing sexual violence by Hamas terrorists’ after reading out his quote from a 2024 livestream.

‘He also claims Hamas is, quote, “a thousand times better than Israel,”‘ Bash continued, reading another quote from the self-professed socialist.

‘Hamas is a designated terror organization, not just by the US but by the EU [European Union], Canada, Australia, New Zealand, just to name a few,’ Bash clarified.

She then played clip from one of Piker’s reaction videos from 2019, where Piker proclaimed that ‘America deserved 9/11’ due to its operations overseas.

‘F*ck it, I’m saying it,’ Piker said at the time. ‘Like, we totally brought it on ourselves, dude. Holy shit. We did. We f*ckin did!’

Piker eventually walked back those comments, calling them ‘inappropriate’. He also clarified that he did not mean Americans deserved to die that day, Bash said.

She went on to point out how progressives such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Congressman Ro Khanna have appeared on Piker’s streams in the past.

El-Sayed’s primary opponents in Michigan, in contrast, have ‘not only refused [to defend] Piker and his comments’, but ‘both condemn’ them instead, she said.

Bash categorized a speech he gave as ‘Piker attempting to airbrush his past statements’

‘”It doesn’t matter if f**king rapes happened on October 7th. Like, that doesn’t change the dynamic for me,”‘ Bash read, quoting Piker’s 2024 take on the the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the holocaust

A panel conversation with CNN Washington Bureau Chief David Challian and Semafor White House Correspondent Shelby Talcott immediately followed, where the former expressed surprise at what he saw as El-Sayed ‘refusing to back down from his association with Piker’.

Instead, the director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services for Wayne County, Michigan, was ’embracing it,’ he said.

‘And I just think that that’s a really interesting thing to have us watch, because the politics of Israel inside the Democratic party, especially in the state of Michigan, with a big Arab American population as we saw in the 2024 primary,’ said Challian.

He ultimately framed the situation as ‘a live wire inside the Democratic party.’

‘Yeah,’ Bash agreed. She flagged that Michigan was also the state where a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist rammed his truck into a synagogue where more than 100 children were present last month.

Bash then played a clip of Piker speaking to a CNN reporter in March. At the time, the streamer was in New York for that month’s ‘No Kings’ protests.

‘I’ve spent my entire professional media career and far beyond that, combating antisemitism,’ Piker told CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan on March 28. ‘I’ve been doxed, swatted by neo-Nazis for my consistent advocacy against antisemitism.

A panel conversation with CNN Washington Bureau Chief David Challian and Semafor White House Correspondent Shelby Talcott immediately followed, where all expressed surprise at El-Sayed for associating with such a figure

‘I just also happen to be an avowed anti-Zionist. I believe Zionism is a very racist ideology.’

Bash sought to ‘fact-check’ Piker’s statement with a clip from US historian Deborah Lipstadt’s interview with CNN earlier this year.

‘Criticism of Israeli policy is not antisemitism,’ Lipstadt told Bash during the January interview. ‘But when you question the right of Jews to a national identity, when you question the existence of a Jewish state, you move beyond the political.’

Talcott, at this point, weighed in.  

‘I think he’s sort of intentionally trying to get in the weeds here to maybe shift the spotlight away from some of his past comments. Which I think everyone can agree are unacceptable.’

She added: ‘On the flip side, you have the same issue in the Republican Party, where you have fringe folks sort of trying to weasel their way into this “mainstream orbit.” And there’s a question with both parties of, what do we do with these folks?’

‘Should we be going on their podcast? Should we be denouncing them?’ she asked.

Bash agreed, before pointing to Piker’s influence and how he has ‘millions of followers.’

Piker told CNN last month that ‘Zionism is a very racist ideology.’ Bash pushed back during the segment

‘I think what’s even going to be more influential is the questions that are put to the politicians that choose to go on these platforms,’ the anchor eventually concluded. 

‘They’re also going to face the questions of whether or not they defend these statements in these views.’

The Daily Mail has approached El-Sayed’s camp for comment. A former public health professor, he served as the director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services for Wayne County, Michigan for two years. 

His primary opponents are Mallory McMorrow and Haley Stevens.