El-Sayed rejects Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and dismisses the weight of "a social media streamer"
Abdul El-SayedDemocratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, in a statement provided to Axios
In a statement to Axios responding to Piker's comparison, Abdul El-Sayed said he did not agree with it and did not give much weight to statements made by a social media streamer, and redirected to what he called the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers on the cost of gas, groceries and health care in Michigan. Piker campaigned for El-Sayed in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, and the association has been the subject of sustained Republican advertising.
“I do not agree with this statement, nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer. I am more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders.”
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
TheWrap report of September 17, 2026 carrying fuller quotation from Piker's Axios interview than the Axios article itself, including his citation of a U.S. missile strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, and his statement that the analysis "doesn't justify" the September 11 attacks. It also carries Abdul El-Sayed's full statement to Axios rejecting the comparison, and his separate Fox 2 Detroit debate remarks of September 15 on why he engages with Piker. It notes the Associated Press found evidence at least one U.S. missile struck the school, that the Trump administration has not released the Pentagon investigation's findings, and that the death toll remains unknown; the 140 figure is Piker's.
Before the quotation
Axios sought comment from El-Sayed after Piker, who campaigned for him in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, made the comparison in an interview for "The Axios Show."
After the quotation
Two days earlier, at a Fox 2 Detroit debate on September 15, El-Sayed had defended engaging with Piker on audience grounds: "The reason I talk to Hasan isn't because of Hasan, it's because of the 3 million people who pay attention to what he has to say." The separate dispute over Mike Rogers's 9/11 accusation against El-Sayed is recorded in its own case.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
El-Sayed expressly rejects it — "I do not agree with this statement" — and further discounts the speaker's standing. That is a direct rejection of the claim under scrutiny. The closest competing label is “Explicitly stayed out”, given that he pivots to economic policy in the second sentence; it loses because he answered on the merits first rather than refusing to address the matter, and the skill's guidance is to evaluate the answer given before any closing redirect.
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More from this case
Read the full caseKulinski defends Piker's comparison of U.S. actions with terrorism
“everything that Hasan said there is 100 percent factually true.”Read statement
JB 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
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- El-Sayed rejects Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and dismisses the weight of "a social media streamer"
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The Dispute Index. "El-Sayed rejects Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and dismisses the weight of "a social media streamer"". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/956-in-a-statement-to-axios-responding-to-piker