Cory Booker Flat Out Calls Hasan Piker’s Rhetoric ‘Antisemitic’ in Fiery Condemnation: ‘Dangerous and Hateful’

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) delivered a blistering condemnation of left-wing streamer Hasan Piker on Tuesday, flatly branding his rhetoric about Jewish Americans “antisemitic” — and was joined by other senior Democrats as he did so.

Booker was responding to remarks Piker made during an August 20 Twitch livestream, in which the influential progressive streamer suggested American Jews risked provoking violence by closely associating themselves with Israel.

“If you’re running around tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as, basically, Jewish ISIS, and you’re saying as Jews, ‘This is all we care about,’ you’re making antisemitism worse,” Piker said.

Piker also warned that if “Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action” against them.

“Hasan Piker’s dangerous and hateful language targeting Jewish Americans has no place in our civic discourse,” the New Jersey Democrat wrote on X. “Suggesting that Jewish Americans bear responsibility for hatred or violence directed against them is wrong, dangerous, and antisemitic.”

Booker drew a sharp distinction between criticism of Israel and rhetoric directed at Jewish Americans: “We can, and should, argue fiercely over policy. We should have meaningful dialogue and debate about the policies and actions of the Israeli government and American foreign policy. That is the lifeblood of democracy. But that’s not what this is.”

He continued: “No American should be told that their political beliefs make them responsible for hatred or violence directed against them. There is a bright line between vigorous debate and rhetoric that stokes hatred toward our neighbors. Mr. Piker has crossed that line, repeatedly and unmistakably.”

Booker joined a growing roster of Democrats denouncing Piker. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) called his comments “a new low” that “traffics in antisemitic tropes by blaming victims,” while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the suggestion that American Jews are “inviting violence against themselves.”

Piker, meanwhile, has rejected the criticism as a “coordinated smear campaign,” arguing his comments were intended to warn against conflating Judaism with Zionism.

The controversy has also placed fresh pressure on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has associated with Piker in the past.

“Nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed said Wednesday. “All Americans deserve the right to advocate for what they believe without fear of violence, particularly communities historically targeted by violence. Antisemitism is a scourge, and I remain committed to Jewish safety.”

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