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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/17\/us\/politics\/el-sayed-piker-terrorism-comments.html?emc=edit_nn_20260918&nl=the-morning&segment_id=226681",
    "parsed_content": "Trump AdministrationDefense of A.I.How Trump Stifles SpeechVoting by MailApproval RatingAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTA Provocative Streamer Creates Headaches for El-Sayed in Key Senate RaceUnder pressure, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan this week rejected Hasan Piker\u2019s argument that the U.S. has caused more terror than Al Qaeda.Listen \u00b7 6:04 min Share full articleSome Democrats have pressured Dr. Abdul El-Sayed to fully disavow Hasan Piker after his comments on terrorism.Credit...Emily Elconin for The New York TimesBy Tim BalkSept. 17, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee in Michigan\u2019s pivotal Senate race, has labored for weeks to push past criticism of his relationship with Hasan Piker, a provocative streamer who campaigned with him during the primary.Dr. El-Sayed has said that he disagrees with Mr. Piker on \u201cmany, many things,\u201d and that he doesn\u2019t plan to campaign with him this fall. But he has resisted calls to disavow Mr. Piker more fully.This week, some of those calls grew, after Mr. Piker said the United States had caused more terror than the group that orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks. Dr. El-Sayed swiftly rejected the assertion. And Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, issued a statement saying that \u201cenough is enough\u201d and called on Dr. El-Sayed to \u201ccondemn Piker once and for all.\u201dIt was the latest episode to underscore the challenge Mr. Piker poses for Dr. El-Sayed, whose race could decide control of the Senate. Mr. Piker, who has a huge, young audience, has sway with the sorts of progressives who powered Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s populist primary campaign. But other Democrats, who say they are appalled by some of Mr. Piker\u2019s criticism of the United States and Israel, have pressured Dr. El-Sayed to go further and fully disavow Mr. Piker. And Mr. Rogers has used Mr. Piker\u2019s incendiary commentary to cast Dr. El-Sayed as outside the mainstream and even un-American.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTDr. El-Sayed has said he campaigned with Mr. Piker during the primary because he wanted to reach Mr. Piker\u2019s audience, which Dr. El-Sayed says is alienated from the political process. He has been repeatedly called to answer for Mr. Piker\u2019s most provocative statements.The latest came in an interview with Axios on Wednesday. Mr. Piker was asked if he continued to believe the United States was the \u201ctop dog\u201d in terrorism, a view he has expressed over the years. The interviewer also asked if Mr. Piker believed the country was responsible for more terror than Al Qaeda, which planned the attacks that killed 2,977 people on Sept. 11, 2001.\u201cPound for pound, as far as the number of deaths, yes,\u201d Mr. Piker told Axios. \u201cWe have caused tremendous terror all around the world.\u201dDr. El-Sayed disagreed.\u201cI do not agree with this statement, nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer,\u201d Dr. El-Sayed said in a statement, adding that he was more focused on the price of gas, groceries and health care. \u201cAs I have said, this campaign speaks for itself.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTIn a text message, Mr. Piker wrote that \u201cmainstream outlets focus far too much on me as a way to attack\u201d Dr. El-Sayed. He said he was \u201ctotally independent\u201d from Dr. El-Sayed and his campaign. On social media, Mr. Piker also defended his comments to Axios, saying that he had given a \u201cnuanced answer.\u201dImageDr. El-Sayed next to Mr. Piker at a rally in East Lansing, Mich., in April.Credit...Nic Antaya for The New York TimesIn the Axios interview, Mr. Piker pointed to a U.S. strike that hit an elementary school in Iran in February. Iranian officials have said the death toll was at least 175 people, most of them children. A preliminary U.S. investigation determined that the strike on the school was the result of a targeting mistake.Sign up for the On Politics newsletter. It's a pivotal moment for American politics. Join us for 2026 and beyond. Get it sent to your inbox.\u201cIf you\u2019re killing 140 schoolgirls, that is an act of terror,\u201d Mr. Piker said. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean that all Americans are terrorists. But the reality of the matter is we have to create an environment of accountability to ensure things like that never happen again.\u201dMr. Piker has long criticized America\u2019s engagement in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in which hundreds of thousands of civilians died, calling the conflicts \u201cdevastating.\u201dThe race between Dr. El-Sayed and Mr. Rogers, a former congressman and an ally of President Trump, is seen as one of a handful competitive races that could determine Senate control. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTFor weeks, Mr. Rogers has attacked Dr. El-Sayed over his ties to Mr. Piker.Dr. El-Sayed campaigned with Mr. Piker in April at rallies on two college campuses. The two also appeared together in the final days of the primary race in August, with Mr. Piker joining Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s primary night party in Detroit. Dr. El-Sayed has repeatedly said he has no plans to campaign with Mr. Piker in the general election.Jewish Democrats, in particular, have been pushing Dr. El-Sayed to disavow Mr. Piker more forcefully. Mr. Piker is a fierce critic of Israel and has called the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the \u201cdirect consequence\u201d of actions by the Israeli and U.S. governments.A group of Jewish voters in Michigan issued a letter on Wednesday urging support for Dr. El-Sayed. But some Jewish voters have said they are uneasy about his ties to Mr. Piker, and the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus has not endorsed him.At a debate on Tuesday that Mr. Rogers did not attend, Dr. El-Sayed said he disagreed with many of Mr. Piker\u2019s positions, citing, among other things, \u201chis ridiculous comments about 9\/11.\u201d But, he said, \u201cI resist the idea that we should play this cancel culture gotcha game that tells us who we can\u2019t talk to.\u201dIn the past, Mr. Piker said the United States \u201cdeserved\u201d the Sept. 11 attacks. He later apologized.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-17T19:52:43+00:00",
    "author_name": "Tim Balk",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "US Politics",
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    "ai_headline": "A Provocative Streamer Creates Headaches for El-Sayed in Key Senate Race",
    "ai_simplified_title": "El-Sayed Rejects Piker's Terrorism Comments Amid Senate Race Pressure",
    "ai_excerpt": "Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is facing pressure to disavow streamer Hasan Piker after Piker's controversial comments on U.S. terrorism. El-Sayed has rejected Piker's assertion that the U.S. has caused more terror than Al Qaeda, but Republicans and some Democrats are pushing for a stronger disavowal.",
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        "Abdul El-Sayed",
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