RJC: "nothing 'moderate' about Hamas... nothing defensible about Hasan Piker"
Republican Jewish CoalitionRepublican Jewish Coalition
The Republican Jewish Coalition said "there is nothing 'moderate' about Hamas, and there is nothing defensible about Hasan Piker."
“There is nothing 'moderate' about Hamas, and there is nothing defensible about Hasan Piker.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Hasan Piker’s “Hamas over Israel” comparison
Hasan Piker affirmed a hypothetical preference for Hamas over Israel through lesser-evil reasoning. Jon Favreau disputed the moral comparison, while the ADL cited it as whitewashing terrorism. Piker later acknowledged Hamas war crimes and denied endorsing its domestic policies, while maintaining that Israeli occupation was the overriding concern.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Fox News report on Hasan Piker's Channel 4 News UK 'TrumpWorld' interview with Matt Frei, in which he called Hamas's current position 'far more moderate' than at its inception; drew condemnations from the ADL and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Responding to Piker's Channel 4 News interview.
After the quotation
No further public follow-up had been reported as of this writing.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The RJC directly condemns Piker's characterization of Hamas as indefensible, rejecting his minimization of the group.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Hasan Piker
Corrections to this statement
These notices document reporting corrections, classification changes, and topic-label updates.
Reporting correction
Correction to: Statement by Republican Jewish Coalition
- Previous language
- Source: Washington Examiner, "Republican Jewish Coalition condemns Piker's Hamas comments," cited for the statement "There is nothing 'moderate' about Hamas, and there is nothing defensible about Hasan Piker."
- Corrected language
- Source: Fox News, "Hasan Piker calls Hamas 'far more moderate,' dismisses terror group’s brutal rule in Gaza" (Aug. 21, 2026), which quotes RJC National Political Director Sam Markstein's statement to Fox News Digital.
An earlier version of this entry cited a Washington Examiner article that does not contain this quotation. The words appear in Fox News Digital's Aug. 21, 2026 report, which we now cite. The quotation and its attribution to the Republican Jewish Coalition are unchanged.
This corrects our account of what happened.
Fox News report on Hasan Piker's Channel 4 News UK 'TrumpWorld' interview with Matt Frei, in which he called Hamas's current position 'far more moderate' than at its inception; drew condemnations from the ADL and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Washington Examiner report on Hasan Piker's Channel 4 News comments calling Hamas more moderate, quoting reactions from an Anti-Defamation League spokesperson and Republican Jewish Coalition National Political Director Sam Markstein.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)More from this case
Read the full casePiker defends his Israel–Hamas comparison in Axios interview
“This is intentionally a provocative statement, but it’s also something that I personally believe as well. I’m not being insincere when I say this.”Read statement
Symone D. Sanders Townsend rejects Piker’s policing analogy
“I’m going to let Eugene move on, but I just want to note, it sounds like the example that you just gave that the people who are protesting the police are Hamas. And I just would reject that as somebody who has protested the police before, but we can move on.”Read statement
Piker reaffirms the comparison on MS NOW: “I do believe that”
“Is Hamas a religious fundamentalist operation that have engaged in violent actions? Of course they have, absolutely. But that violence is directly born out of, and even that repression is directly born out of, the conditions brought about by the occupation that’s been going on for 80 plus years.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- RJC: "nothing 'moderate' about Hamas... nothing defensible about Hasan Piker"
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/873-the-republican-jewish-coalition-said-there-is-nothing
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "RJC: "nothing 'moderate' about Hamas... nothing defensible about Hasan Piker"". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/873-the-republican-jewish-coalition-said-there-is-nothing