Abdul El-Sayed RESPONDS To Hasan Piker Smear Campaign

TL;DR

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defends campaigning with Hasan Piker, calling opponent attacks a coordinated smear driven by fear of losing party control.

Key Points

• 1.El-Sayed frames the Hasan Piker backlash as politically motivated hypocrisy. He notes Piker was invited to stream live from the 2024 DNC, and opponent McMorrow previously urged Democrats to reach Joe Rogan-type audiences — criticism only emerged when a left-wing candidate partnered with Piker.
• 2.Opponent Mallerie McMorrow compared Hasan Piker to Nick Fuentes. El-Sayed rejects this, pointing to a 30-minute compilation of Piker explicitly calling out antisemitism and distinguishing Judaism from Israeli state actions.
• 3.El-Sayed attended Jewish prayer services the Saturday before the interview. He argues he is trying to speak to all communities and that antisemitism is unequivocally wrong, while maintaining Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide.
• 4.Third Way and the ADL are accused of deliberately conflating Israel criticism with antisemitism. El-Sayed called out ADL leader Jonathan Greenblatt for using the concept of antisemitism to shield AIPAC — a 'MAGA-backed' PAC — from legitimate political criticism.
• 5.Internal polls from both opponents show El-Sayed performing strongly. One opponent's poll shows him with the highest favorability; the other shows him leading after voters are informed — which El-Sayed says explains why the smear campaign launched now.
• 6.AIPAC's three-way race dilemma shapes Michigan Senate strategy. Spending against El-Sayed risks boosting McMorrow; not spending may let El-Sayed win — McMorrow reportedly submitted a pro-Israel DMFI questionnaire to keep AIPAC from funding Stevens against her.
• 7.El-Sayed laid out a detailed AI and data center policy for Michigan. He demands union jobs, no electricity cost increases, closed-loop water systems, community benefits agreements, and steep enforcement fees — noting 15 data center projects were proposed in Michigan in the past year alone.
• 8.El-Sayed's core platform centers on Medicare for All, removing corporate money from politics, and union support. He has visited 90 cities and held 300 public events, warning that AIPAC and corporate interests will spend heavily to defeat him and directing supporters to abdulforsenate.com.