Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) appeared to reach her breaking point over questions about controversial left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, telling reporters during a campaign event that she was “done” discussing him and accusing Republicans of using the issue to divide Democrats. Dingell made the remarks while campaigning for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, whose past appearances with Piker have become an issue in the closely watched race. “Don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker,” Dingell declared from the stage.
The outburst came during an August 26th student town hall in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Dingell appeared alongside El-Sayed and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, and Democrats have been trying to put a divisive primary behind them as they head toward November. Piker’s association with El-Sayed, however, has continued to follow the Democratic nominee into the general election.
“I am done,” Dingell told the audience. “So don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker. It’s not what November is about.” Dingell then attempted to blame Republicans for continuing to keep the controversy alive, adding, “Republicans are trying to make it. They’re trying to divide us, and we got to stop letting them try to divide.”
Piker has become a political headache for El-Sayed because the Democratic nominee repeatedly appeared with the streamer during the primary campaign. Piker has a lengthy record of inflammatory political statements, including his infamous 2019 declaration that “America deserved 9/11.” As the Associated Press reported, El-Sayed has put some distance between himself and Piker since winning the nomination but has declined to completely sever ties with him.
The controversy has extended beyond Republicans. Several Democrats have publicly criticized Piker or questioned El-Sayed’s relationship with him, and at least one elected Democrat has gone considerably further. Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett appeared alongside Rogers at the launch of his “Democrats for Rogers” coalition and announced that she would vote for the Republican rather than her own party’s nominee.
Whitsett argued that voters should choose candidates based on their positions rather than party affiliation, while other Democratic voters also joined the Rogers coalition. El-Sayed has responded to the broader controversy by stressing that Piker does not speak for his campaign, saying, “Nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokesperson.”
Dingell herself has made clear that she disagrees with a number of Piker’s statements, even as she has grown increasingly frustrated with being asked about him. During the Ann Arbor event, she continued discussing Piker immediately after declaring that she was finished with the subject. “I don’t agree with Hasan Piker on a lot of stuff, and I really don’t agree with him on some of the woman things he said,” Dingell said, according to Fox News.
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Watch Dingell’s remarks here:
https://x.com/DefiantLs/status/2092991526653809017
The congresswoman’s demand that reporters stop asking about Piker did not end the questions. CNN anchor John Berman confronted Dingell about the remarks the following day, playing the clip before asking why journalists should avoid the subject when Piker had campaigned with El-Sayed. “So, I’m a reporter,” Berman said. “Why can’t I ask you about Hasan Piker, when he has campaigned with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed?”
Dingell responded by listing the issues she would rather discuss, including health care, food assistance, grocery prices, gasoline, and housing. She also acknowledged that further examination of Piker’s statements had left her disturbed. “I don’t agree with him. I’ve made it very clear,” Dingell said. “And not only do I agree Israel’s got a right to exist, but as I got more into him, just, you know, looking at things he’s said, there are a lot of things that deeply disturb me.”
The dispute has nevertheless remained part of the Michigan Senate campaign as Republicans continue pressing El-Sayed and his Democratic allies over Piker. Republican strategist Jason Roe described the situation as politically difficult for Democrats regardless of how they handle it. “You can tell these Democrats are not going to distance themselves,” Roe said. “You embrace him, it’s not helpful, and distance is also not helpful.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.