As Hasan Piker stepped in front of a packed crowd at Michigan State University Tuesday afternoon, it marked the culmination of a media whirlwind focused on the wedge his involvement in the Michigan senate race was driving between Democrats.
All that buzz, Piker noted, seemed to be focusing on the wrong things.
“It seems contrary to what my naysayers have been focused on, in the past three weeks of Donald Trump’s insane ramblings and bombing campaigns, this event has not been cancelled at all,” Piker said to a round of applause.
Indeed, most of the remarks from U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Piker and Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee were oriented towards advocating for El-Sayed’s progressive platform and chastising the Trump administration. Nonetheless, the recent controversy still loomed over some of their comments.
Political think-tanks like Third Way warned that platforming Piker — whose past incendiary comments and staunch anti-Israel stance has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans — would further alienate voters in crucial swing states like Michigan.
MSU Hillel, a Jewish student group on campus, characterized Piker as a “known antisemite” in a statement to The State News following the rally’s announcement. Only an hour before the rally was set to begin, university leaders released a statement defending free speech principles while admonishing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.
“We recognize that recent comments attributed to a speaker coming to campus, who the university did not invite, have caused pain and concern, particularly among members of our Jewish community,” the statement read.
El-Sayed took time on Tuesday to dissuade any concerns of platforming antisemitism, saying during his remarks that “All of us love and revere our Jewish neighbors and Judaism because we love and revere people, which is exactly why we will not sit idly by while all tax dollars go to fund a genocide on behalf of a foreign government.”
Piker, speaking before El-Sayed, situated the criticism he’s faced in the broader context of how perspectives have shifted on the war in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. He said that, at the time of Hamas’ first attacks on Israel, he would not have easily spoken his mind. But as protests on college campuses and across the county have continued, there is now a “sea change in attitude.”
That change in attitude, Piker said, is one reason why his only response to the current retaliation is “f—k ’em.”
