Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) told the Washington Reporter that a Michigan Senate candidate’s embrace of a left-wing Twitch streamer who said that “America deserved 9/11” is a major concern.
Scott criticized Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for rallying with Hasan Piker in Michigan. For Scott, Piker’s inflammatory rhetoric is personal. Piker was briefly suspended from Twitch after he urged followers to “kill Rick Scott,” shortly after he looked up what position Scott held in the federal government.
“This deranged person urged his radical fan base to murder me, celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder, and said America “deserved” 9/11,” Scott said. “Yet, he is still treated like a celebrity on the left.”
Piker joined El-Sayed for a rally after he visited communist Cuba on a propaganda trip, which Scott also took aim at. El-Sayed’s decision to rally with Piker “tells you all you need to know about him and everyone who still chooses to associate with him, including the members of Congress who just took a luxury trip with him to Cuba to shill for the despicable Castro/Díaz-Canel regime,” Scott said.
Piker’s influence is continuing to grow within the Democratic Party. Several Democrats who are likely presidential candidates in 2028 have appeared on his livestream, or have made plans to. However, his presence remains divisive; some Democrats, like Mallory McMorrow, one of El-Sayed’s primary opponents, have compared him to fringe anti-Semitic podcasters like Nick Fuentes.
Nevertheless, Scott added to the Reporter that “it is deeply concerning that no Democrat elected official calls this guy out and the press seems to give all the Democrats a pass for actively campaigning with him. This is disgusting.”
Following Piker’s rally with El-Sayed, Scott continued his criticisms of the left-wing duo. “The radical Left is actively choosing to campaign with a guy who tells people to kill me, says horrific things about our Jewish community, and openly praises evil regimes like Communist Cuba,” he said.
Scott called Piker “evil,” in part due to his embrace of Palestinian terrorists. “We’re talking about innocent humans killed in cold blood,” Scott added. “What kind of monster do you have to be to support this kind of evil?”
While some Democrats are eager to channel the energy that Piker can bring to events, Republicans are already using his history of anti-American, pro-communist rhetoric against Democrats.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) has had a clear path to his party’s nomination in Michigan for the state’s open Senate seat. While Democrats in the Wolverine State have sprinted to the left, Rogers has consolidated the support he built during his narrow loss in 2024.
El-Sayed was asked by a reporter during his tour with Piker if “are there any views that Hasan holds that you disavow,” and he responded that he is “not here to disavow people’s views.”
Rogers immediately tied El-Sayed to Piker’s remarks, including that Islamic terrorists are “brave.”
“Abdul El-Sayed approves of this message,” Rogers remarked.
Nationally, Republicans are eager to note that “Piker is clearly going all-in on the midterms, and Democrats have no interest in drawing a line in the sand on his anti-American rhetoric,” Republican National Committee (RNC) spokeswoman Delanie Bomar noted after Piker signaled his support for Gov. Janet Mills (D., Maine) in her divisive primary to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine).
“They will clearly keep clout chasing and hope nobody notices they’ve sided with a terrorist,” Bomar added.