Hasan Piker Rips Michigan Democrat for Endorsing the GOP Senate Nominee

Hasan Piker, the left-wing streamer, spent part of a stream mocking Rep. Haley Stevens' CNN interview defending her endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race. He then turned on a second Michigan Democrat, Rep. Debbie Dingell, for saying hate in the race was coming from "all sides."

The timing matters. Polls close Tuesday in a race that could decide control of the Senate, and Stevens, who lost the August Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers on Sunday.

Piker is part of this story, not just a commentator on it. Stevens named him as one of the reasons for her decision.

Haley Stevens' CNN Interview With Anderson Cooper

On CNN Sunday, Anderson Cooper asked Stevens again and again what had changed overnight. According to Cooper, Dingell had said she spoke with Stevens late Saturday night and Stevens told her she would not endorse Rogers. Stevens said "it might not have been midnight" when they spoke, but she would not say whether she had told Dingell she would not endorse Rogers.

She pointed instead to her party's nominee. "Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier. I was trying to help and I endorsed him," Stevens said.

Cooper read back Stevens' own post from August 1: "Mike Rogers will be another rubber stamp for Donald Trump's dangerous agenda. We can't afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November." Stevens answered by asking "why is it okay to have the Democratic Party and a top nominee, you know, ejecting this type of, or injecting, rather, this type of anger and lack of kindness?"

"You're not really answering any of my questions, so it's somewhat frustrating," Cooper said.

Stevens also said that "some of the actions have certainly been anti-Semitic, Anderson, but I'm just sick of who he stands with. He's picking Hasan Piker and the uncle." She cited Piker's 2019 remark that "America deserved 9/11," which PolitiFact notes he walked back two days later, explaining he meant the consequences of U.S. foreign policy.

At one point she said Republicans were "not as focused on just letting Trump be the dictator." "You're endorsing them," Piker said.

Piker also pushed back on her complaint about the nominee's "obsession" with foreign affairs: "Abdul doesn't even talk about Israel as much anymore. You're the one who's making it a point of contention."

From 'Rubber Stamp' to Endorsement

The reversal came fast:

Mother Jones counted at least 13 times Stevens called Rogers a "rubber stamp" in archived posts. The break followed a fight over a Rebellion PAC ad tying U.S. support for Israel to grocery prices, which El-Sayed's campaign said it had no part in, CNBC reported. Dingell told The Associated Press, in a report published by Bridge Michigan, that she was the one who pulled the church service event "because it had become way too distracting." On CNN, Cooper attributed the disinvitation to El-Sayed, saying he had put out a statement and "disinvited" Stevens from the service.

Hasan Piker Rejects Debbie Dingell's 'All Sides' Claim

Dingell went on CNN right after Stevens. "That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched," she said. She called the Rebellion PAC ad despicable and also faulted "the ads that Mike Rogers has had condemning, calling people that are Muslim Americans terrorists," adding: "The hate is on all sides."

Piker rejected that framing. "Even the fact that they have to bring up Muslim hatred, they have to immediately create a false equivalency," he said.

The Rogers ads tie El-Sayed's family and donors to terrorism without directly calling Muslim Americans terrorists. One accuses El-Sayed of "lying" about family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and says his sister-in-law "was on a terrorist watch list." Another says he "raises money from dangerous people who finance terrorist networks" and calls him "a real threat to our national security and our values." A Rogers staffer called El-Sayed "a raging antisemite" on X, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

Piker has defended El-Sayed against smears before.

What Comes Next in the Michigan Senate Race

El-Sayed leads Rogers 49.3 percent to 44.5 percent in PolitiKool's polling average. Stevens said on CNN that over a million people in Michigan have already voted.

In her announcement, Stevens said she did not stand with Hasan Piker, CNBC reported. Her chief of staff of eight years resigned, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move "a despicable betrayal." Tuesday's count will show whether the late reversal moved anyone.