By The Washington Times (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-06 20:09:31 | Updated at 2026-08-06 22:24:54
3 hours ago
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s ties to hard-left figures and ideas have come to the forefront of the race after he narrowly won his party’s nomination.
Republican Mike Rogers is trying to convince Michigan’s voters that Mr. El-Sayed is too engrossed in radicalism to represent the state, highlighting his collaboration with left-wing internet personality Hasan Piker, who in 2019 said: “America deserved 9/11.”
Boasting 3.1 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch, 1.9 million YouTube subscribers and 1.7 million followers on X, Mr. Piker is a leading voice of the socialist left.
Now Mr. Rogers aims to emphasize Mr. El-Sayed’s relationship with Mr. Piker.
Mr. Rogers, a former FBI agent, said in a statement about Mr. El-Sayed’s narrow Democratic primary win, “I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice. Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11.”
In his bid to fill the vacancy of retiring Sen. Gary Peters — a Democrat known as a pragmatist — Mr. El-Sayed calls for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, cutting off all military aid to Israel and nationalizing the healthcare system.
He ultimately defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, who was endorsed by Mr. Peters and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, by one percentage point in Tuesday’s primary.
Mr. El-Sayed appeared with Mr. Piker in an April rally at Michigan State University. The doctor continued to collaborate with the online creator, appearing on his livestream on the eve of the primary.
At the MSU event, Mr. El-Sayed said he was “not here to disavow people’s views,” a quote about Mr. Piker that Mr. Rogers’ campaign has amplified in campaign material.
Mr. El-Sayed told CBS of his campaigning with Mr. Piker, “I want to reach out to his viewers. He has a 3 million person platform, and there are things that Hasan and I disagree with — if you watched any of our content together — and there are things that he and I agree with.”
Mr. Roger has labeled Mr. El-Sayed “antisemitic.”
Mr. El-Sayed, who accuses Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid,” has said the Jewish state is “not the same as Judaism and the Jewish people,” whom he says he loves.
Meanwhile, Mr. Piker has said that calls for Mr. El-Sayed to disavow his remark on 9/11 are “unbelievably disingenuous.”
The influencer wrote on social media, “I’VE personally apologized for the words that i used BACK IN 2019. every candidate i’ve appeared alongside has done this. we all know this is a cynical way to justify associating the 1st muslim senate candidate with ’islamic style terrorism.’”
Mr. El-Sayed, born to Egyptian parents in Michigan, is a practicing Muslim. On Thursday, he accused his opponent of resorting to “Islamophobia” in the race.
The Cook Political Report rates Michigan a toss-up in November. A Republican victory would complicate Democrats’ fight to gain control of the Senate, which requires them to win four additional seats.
Mr. Rogers ran for the Senate in 2024, losing to then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin by under 22,000 votes. A Republican has not won a Michigan Senate race since 1994.
