Jake Tapper Calls Out the Left Cozying Up to Hasan Piker: Has a History of ‘Outrageous, if Not Bigoted’ Comments

CNN anchor Jake Tapper questioned why the Democratic establishment is embracing popular socialist streamer Hasan Piker, considering his long history of shock comments.

Tapper looked at Piker’s increasingly cozy relationship with some Democrats on The Lead on Monday night.

“His rise as a prominent voice on the left is now driving a wedge between Democrats — and for good reason,” Tapper said. “Hasan Piker’s past and present is checkered with controversial, if not outrageous, if not bigoted statements.”

He then showed a handful of examples, including Piker saying America “deserved” to be attacked on September 11, and more recently saying it would be “f*cking hilarious” if “inbred” Orthodox Jews in Israel get killed fighting in Lebanon; Tapper noted Piker apologized for the 9/11 comment but stood by the rest.

The veteran host then told his audience that Piker has called Hamas “the lesser of two evils” when comparing the terrorist organization and Israel.

Tapper also read from a recent Wall Street Journal column that argued Piker was “anti-American, anti-women, anti-Western and anti-Semitic. No Democrat should engage with him.”

But many have engaged with him. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has taken chummy pictures with Piker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has streamed with him, and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has a rally planned for next week that will include Piker as a special guest.

Tapper then asked his two guests about Piker’s ties to the Democratic Party.

“What does his influence tell you about where the democratic party stands today?” Tapper asked. “And I guess, is it despite those comments or because of those comments?”

Peter Hamby, the host of Good Luck America on Snapchat, said it was “despite those comments, a little bit.” But he said Dems like El-Sayed are turning to Piker because they wan to “connect with young people, connect with young men, go into the ‘Manosphere,’ go into the podcast space.”

Hamby then asked if it was “worth the gamble” for Dems to embrace Piker, since polling shows the streamer has only a 20% approval rating among young men.

Podcaster Jonah Platt added that Piker is quick to point out anti-Semitism from right-wingers, but will sneakily “just sub ‘Jew’ for ‘Israel'” whenever he wants to fire off his own anti-Semitic takes.

“He’s able to sort of get away with some of this stuff in these subtle ways, when really his impact is just as harmful as any out-and-out anti-Semite.”

Watch above via CNN.

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