Hillary Scholten

By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News

DETROIT — Democratic U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan called online commentator Hasan Piker “a hack who thrives on hate, shock and awe” in a statement on Monday, as Piker’s influence became increasingly divisive in Michigan politics.

While Piker campaigned with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor during the primary election campaign, Scholten said Piker’s rhetoric “has no place in Michigan and no place in our country.”

“It’s dangerous for everyone,” Scholten said in her press release. “We should all be calling out this disgusting rhetoric so it loses its grip on our politics once and for all.”

On his stream last week, Piker featured an image of Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Moss of Bloomfield Township, who is Jewish and won the party’s nomination for the 11th Congressional District seat, which U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingahm is leaving at year’s end because of her unsuccessful run for the U.S. Sen. Gary Peters’ seat.

Moss recently said people have been sharing a fake audio clip claiming he stated the entire purpose of his campaign for the U.S. House is to ensure America continues to support Israel.

“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,” Piker said.

The comment and the reference to Moss were “unacceptable,” said Scholten, who had previously criticized El-Sayed for campaigning with Piker, who once remarked during a livestream that the United States “deserved” the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers of White Lake Township said the comment by Piker was “absolutely disgusting.”

“If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all,” Rogers said.

In his own statement, El-Sayed said he believes all Americans “deserve the right to advocate for what they believe without fear of violence.”

“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters,” El-Sayed said. “Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk.

“But I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”

In a post on Aug. 23, Piker said his remarks weren’t a call for violence.

“Falsely tying Israel to Jewish people IS increasing antisemitism,” Piker said in response to Rogers.

Piker appeared at an early August event with El-Sayed in Detroit and campaigned with him at stops in East Lansing and Ann Arbor in April.

Piker has a substantial social media following and is known for his videos on the streaming service Twitch.

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