Rahm Emanuel calls Piker's al-Qaida comparison vile and says Piker's speech only divides America
Rahm EmanuelFormer mayor of Chicago and former U.S. ambassador to Japan
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Hasan Piker's "pound for pound" comment was "a ridiculous statement on a normal day, but particularly vile" in the week of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. He said on X that everyone is free to express opinions "however dumb or immoral," and that the rest of us are free to call out "this vile, hateful speech that only divides America."
“a ridiculous statement on a normal day, but particularly vile the same week we’re reflecting on the loss of 3,000 Americans on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The great thing about America is that everyone is entitled to their opinions and free to express them, however dumb or immoral, That includes ‘Comrade’ Piker. The rest of us are just as free — obligated even — to call out this vile, hateful speech that only divides America.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Hasan Piker's Axios Show interview claims about terrorism, Iran, China and Israel
In an interview for "The Axios Show" conducted by Alex Thompson, Hasan Piker was asked whether America commits more terrorism than the organization behind the September 11 attacks and answered "Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes," adding that the United States has "caused tremendous terror all around the world." He cited a U.S. missile strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, and said the analysis does not justify the September 11 attacks. Excerpts published September 17, 2026 also carried his view that the Middle East would be more stable if Iran had a nuclear weapon, while he said he does not want Iran, the United States, Russia or China to possess nuclear arms and was not advocating Iranian armament. The full episode, published September 18, added further contested claims: that Mao Zedong was "a great man of history" whose "excesses" were "deaths born out of mismanagement and famine"; that a Chinese child may have better conditions than an American one within two decades; that "Zionism is fascism" and that he is not worried his audience would turn violent against Zionists; and that Israel "in its current formation" should not be a U.S. ally. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan for whom Piker campaigned in the primary, rejected the al-Qaeda comparison. The dispute is whether these claims are defensible analysis of U.S., Middle Eastern and Chinese policy or indefensible positions, and what they mean for the candidates associated with him.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Chicago Tribune report, published September 20, 2026 and updated that evening, on how Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel each responded to Hasan Piker's remarks. Emanuel's words are quoted as the Tribune reports them.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The Chicago Tribune reported that in an interview with Axios earlier in September, Piker said the United States conducts more terrorism in the world than al-Qaida, the network behind the 9/11 attacks, "pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes."
After the quotation
On Sunday, September 20, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, asked on ABC's This Week whether Democrats should denounce Piker, spoke instead about stopping Donald Trump, according to the Tribune. Asked whether he would accept an endorsement from Piker, Pritzker said Piker "doesn't mean anything to me or in my election."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Piker's claims in the Axios interview, including that the United States commits more terrorism than al-Qaida "pound for pound." Emanuel calls that comment "a ridiculous statement" that was "particularly vile" in the week of the 9/11 anniversary, and says others are free to call out Piker's "vile, hateful speech." That rejects the claim outright, so we labeled it Condemned.
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More from this case
Read the full caseJB Pritzker, asked whether Democrats should denounce Piker, redirects to stopping Trump
“You know, I'm not focused on the streamers and what they're saying. There's a whole lot of them, and they got a whole lot of views. I'm just saying that what I think we should be talking about and focused on is how do we stop Donald Trump in his tracks? How do we make sure that we're putting forward an agenda that really fights for the people who need it, which are the most vulnerable? The workers, you know, the middle class who really need someone to stand up for them. That's why I'm a Democrat. That's why the Democratic Party exists. That's what we should be focused on. You know, again, I'm not focused. I don't even want to talk about it. Hasan Piker doesn't mean anything to me or in my election.”Read statement
Francesca Fiorentini says Piker’s critics “made him the media figure for bad reasons” and would prefer he “do nothing at all”
“You made him the media figure for bad reasons. He was out here minding his damn business.” … “They would be absolutely okay with him utilizing his millions of followers to do nothing at all, because they would prefer that than for him to use the followers to actually boot out these do-nothing establishment Democrats”Read statement
Emma Vigeland says a “coordinated campaign” is what could make Piker “politically toxic” and faults Symone Sanders as an interviewer
“I mean, she didn’t listen to anything that he said. What she responded to was completely disconnected from the point he was making. I’m shocked at how poor of an interviewer she is and listener, if she was listening at all.” … “They feel like they have hours and hours of footage of [Hasan] sometimes saying edgy or inflammatory things by their own conservative standards, and they feel like this is a figure that we can define. And so when they act like, why are you going out there to campaign for candidates if you’re so politically toxic, as if this coordinated campaign against him wasn’t what would potentially make him politically toxic.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Rahm Emanuel calls Piker's al-Qaida comparison vile and says Piker's speech only divides America". First published: 2026-09-30. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/3421-former-chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-said-hasan-piker