Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) said Thursday that he feels like he has “lost to Hasan Piker,” after the popular left-wing streamer made controversial comments about the Islamic militant group al Qaeda.
“He’s an individual that just declared that we are worse than al Qaeda,” Fetterman told Fox News’s Chad Pergram. “And Democrats are campaigning with him, defending him, and my — our base loves him. So, I mean, I can’t compete with that.”
The senator’s remarks came after a recent Axios interview in which Piker argued that the United States commits more terrorism than al Qaeda.
“Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes,” the progressive pundit said. “We have caused tremendous terror all around the world.”
Piker is one of the most popular streamers on the social media app Twitch. He campaigned with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) during the Democratic primary, a connection Republicans have seized on.
Republicans have criticized the Senate hopeful for his association with Piker, running ads that feature the streamer’s 2019 statement that “America deserved 9/11.” The messaging was later apologized for.
On Thursday, the GOP’s official account on the social platform X posted a clip of Piker’s latest rhetoric. “Every single Democrat who is supported by this garbage can of a human being must condemn him immediately,” the account wrote.
In a statement to Axios on Wednesday, El-Sayed said he disagreed with Piker’s comments. He added that he did not “give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer.”
“I am more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders,” El-Sayed said.
The Senate hopeful also noted late last month that he has “no plans” to campaign with the pundit as the midterms draw closer. He called their association irrelevant to his Senate bid.
The controversy comes as the Michigan Senate race remains tight. El-Sayed posted a slight lead over former Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), his Trump-backed Republican challenger, in a recent survey from The Hill/Emerson College Polling. The populist candidate held a 2-point advantage over the former GOP lawmaker in the poll.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the race as a “toss up.”