CBS presses Abdul El-Sayed on his ties to controversial streamer Hasan Piker. He says ‘streamers in California’ are not raising gas and grocery prices

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, faced questions Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation about his past work with streamer Hasan Piker. El-Sayed has appeared at events with Piker before.

Weijia Jiang of CBS News put this question to him: “There are Jewish voters in your state who are concerned about your relationship with Piker. You have condemned antisemitism but not called out his rhetoric directly. Why not?”

El-Sayed answered, “With all due respect, this is the third time you’ve asked about a Twitch streamer in California. I’ve done four events in Michigan this week. You know what didn’t come up? Twitch streamers in California.”

Michigan voters focused on costs and care, El-Sayed tells CBS

He added, “You know what did come up? Grocery prices, the fact that people can’t see a doctor, the worry that they have about the quality of air and water. I’m not interested in having a conversation about streamers in California because they are not raising the prices of gas and groceries.”

El-Sayed advanced to the general election after this summer’s primaries as one of several progressive Democrats who won their party nominations. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have backed his bid.

He has shared the campaign trail with Piker, a left-wing streamer known for remarks that have drawn criticism. El-Sayed’s campaign has drawn criticism from political opponents, such as when JD Vance roused the RNC to cheers by taking jabs at him. According to The Hill, El-Sayed said he had “no plans” to appear with Piker again after Democratic lawmakers objected to the streamer’s comments about American Jews and Israel.

Piker often criticizes Israel and what it has done in Gaza. He said recently that Jewish Americans do not all support Israel’s government, yet “Jewish institutions” are “teaching people the idea that Jews are monolithic.”

On a livestream, as quoted by The Hill, Piker stated, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

Jiang noted that El-Sayed has spoken against antisemitism without naming Piker’s words in particular. El-Sayed’s campaign, like others in his progressive wave, faced significant financial disadvantage.  El-Sayed treated the streamer topic as off the list of issues he heard from voters at four Michigan events that week.