‘Shilling For the Illiberal Left’: Tim Miller Gets Eviscerated After Defending Hasan Piker

Screenshot via social media

Tim Miller, the host of the Bulwark Podcast, kicked up a bevy of anger and mockery this week when he defended Hasan Piker, arguing that the controversial streamer should be accepted in the Democratic Party.

Miller shared an article on Thursday by Bulwark reporter Lauren Egan titled, “How Big Is the Democrats’ ‘Big Tent’?” He then added:

“If people really are arguing that the price of winning is becoming like a bigoted misogynist like Hasan Piker, then I’ll take not winning,” Jonathan Cowan told @Lauren_V_Egan.

This seems like a bad message to me given the state of things.

Piker has been stoking controversy on the left for months now, as his past rhetoric praising Hezbollah while calling the U.S. the world’s “top terrorist” and his recent visits to China and Cuba have raised eyebrows.

Piker grabbed more headlines in recent weeks by joining a campaign rally for a progressive U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, sparking a debate about his role in the Democratic Party. Miller’s post quickly highlighted the intensity surrounding that debate.

Journalist James Kirchick replied to Miller’s post, “I’m old enough to remember when @timodc thought standing against bigotry was worth losing an election over.”

The Free Press’s Peter Savodnik replied, “The Never Trumpers started out as a principled subset of conservatives horrified by Trump’s abandonment of conservatism, and they’ve morphed into media puppets shilling for the illiberal left. They are a cautionary tale about the dangers of tribalization in today’s America.”

Another social media user brought up Charlie Sykes, Miller’s predecessor as host of the Bulwark podcast. “Part of the reason Charlie Sykes left the Bulwark is because ppl like Tim cannot understand how toxic the left is to saving democracy,” wrote the user, to which Sykes quipped, “I can’t possibly say.”

Miller later defended his post, writing, “I’m not arguing for adopting his politics. Doing a kamikaze campaign to alienate people that listen to his show for no clear purposes except for winning a factional white paper fight among DC wonks seems ill-advised. Will be going long on this topic on the stream tonite [sic].”

Below are some additional reactions:

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