Hasan Piker Accuses Kristen Welker of Double Standard on Michigan Democrat

Hasan Piker says Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker treated Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, with a hostility she does not show Republicans. The leftist streamer, who backs El-Sayed openly, made the case on his HasanAbi channel as he played back Sunday's interview.

The race could help decide control of the Senate. El-Sayed leads Republican former Representative Mike Rogers 48.7 percent to 45.3 percent in PolitiKool's polling average for Michigan, and Barack Obama is due to campaign with him in Detroit on Oct. 24.

"This is beyond adversarial journalism," Piker said. "And the irony of course is she never does this to anyone who is not on the left. She doesn't do this to Benjamin Netanyahu. She doesn't do this to right wingers."

Then he partly walked it back: "Every now and then you'll catch her do it to a right winger for sure."

Why Hasan Piker Says Meet the Press Holds the Left to a Different Standard

Piker called the NBC program a "liberal institution" and said it is "probably the last bastion of like good objective reporting that's supposed to exist." That made the treatment worse in his eyes. He argued that Welker's follow-ups on El-Sayed's old criticism of Obama were meant to plant a narrative, not to draw out the candidate's views.

He asked viewers to "take me out of the equation or my affinity towards Abdul El-Sayed" and to imagine Senator Elizabeth Warren in the chair. His prescription: "if you're going to be contentious, be contentious across the board."

He was harshest about Welker's question on Rogers's repeated attempts to tie El-Sayed and his family to the Muslim Brotherhood. A serious news organization, Piker said, does not "raise the salience of heinous and slanderous accusations because when you present them as a serious media organization, you're offering legitimacy to the claim." He said she should have asked about Islamophobia instead. El-Sayed told Welker he and his family have no ties to the group, and Rogers then released an ad accusing him of lying about his family's ties.

Piker made no secret of where he stands. "Now you guys know why I like this guy," he said partway through the clip.

The Obama Questions Behind the Clash

Welker opened with El-Sayed's record on Obama. In a 2012 Huffington Post essay written after he voted for Obama's reelection, El-Sayed wrote that Obama "was not the right choice — he just wasn't the wrong one" and accused him of having "violated our civil liberties" and deported "more people from our shores than any other president before him," TheWrap reported. Welker also raised a 2020 remark that "we are not better off than we were before him."

El-Sayed answered that Obama "was handed a really difficult set of circumstances and he did his best." Obama is set to appear in Detroit with him and gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson on the first day of Michigan's required in-person early-voting period.

Piker said the media turns El-Sayed's past commentary on Obama into a "big crisis moment" out of nothing. He pointed out that Donald Trump, who rose in Republican politics by pushing the false claim that Obama was born in Kenya, rarely faces questions like that. He said anyone "precious about Obama's ... legacy" should press Trump on it whenever he appears.

But questions about a candidate's past statements on a surrogate who is about to campaign with him are routine. So is asking about impeachment. When Welker did, El-Sayed said: "It's not going to be my place to vote to impeach, but I will be in a position to vote to convict."

What the Meet the Press Record Shows

Rogers did not appear on the Oct. 11 broadcast. Republicans who did appear were pushed, though mostly on Trump. According to the show's Oct. 11 transcript, Welker asked North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, "Do you believe the president is breaking the law with this deal with Russia?" On Oct. 4, she pressed Louisiana Senator John Kennedy on Texas nominee Ken Paxton: "You're not confident in his character, Senator Kennedy?"

The interview drew fire from the right as well. Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center, argued that Welker let El-Sayed give long answers without interrupting him. "When it comes to controversial Democrats, Welker is not an interrogator. She's an enabler," Graham wrote for Townhall.

What Happens Next

Michigan's required early-voting period begins with the Obama rally on Oct. 24, and Rogers has released an ad accusing El-Sayed of lying about his family's ties. With the race inside a few points in PolitiKool's polling average, both campaigns will now try to use what El-Sayed said on Sunday, and Piker's complaint about the media may turn into a fight over the interview itself.