El-Sayed disavows Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and says he gives it little weight
Abdul El-SayedDemocratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, in a statement provided to Axios
After Hasan Piker told Axios that the United States commits more terrorism than al-Qaeda "pound for pound," Abdul El-Sayed said in a statement to Axios that he did not agree and did not give much weight to statements made by a social media streamer, redirecting to what he called the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers on the cost of gas, groceries and health care. It is the fourth occasion recorded in this case on which El-Sayed has publicly distanced himself from Piker's remarks while the association remains a Republican line of attack.
“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
Mike Rogers’s 9/11 accusation against Abdul El-Sayed
After Michigan’s August 2026 Senate primary, Mike Rogers asserted that Abdul El-Sayed believed America deserved the September 11 attacks. His campaign defended that accusation by citing El-Sayed’s association with Hasan Piker and reluctance to disavow him. El-Sayed had explicitly rejected justifying 9/11 and argued that appearing with a person did not imply agreement. He described Rogers’s attacks as an effort to divide voters through Islamophobia. Pod Save America hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer later debated the strategy and construction of a related Republican ad without endorsing its factual claims.
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
Republican-aligned groups have spent nearly $3 million on advertising targeting El-Sayed over his association with Piker, according to AdImpact data reported by Axios, with many of the ads featuring Piker's 2019 remark that "America deserved 9/11." El-Sayed had addressed the association at a Fox 2 Detroit debate two days earlier.
After the quotation
Piker's claim itself, and El-Sayed's rejection of it on the merits, are recorded in the separate case on that comparison. Rogers has continued to tie the two, saying at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas that "Abdul El-Sayed has chosen Hasan as his running mate."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
El-Sayed does not address the accusation directly here; he disputes the inference it rests on, by disavowing Piker's newest remark and denying that a streamer's statements carry weight for him. That is a challenge to the attributed linkage rather than a substantive evaluation of Rogers's accusation. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, which is how his September 15 debate answer (753) is classified because he disavowed specific remarks while defending the broader association; it loses here because this statement offers no defence of the association at all. “Explicitly stayed out” also loses: unlike his September 13 "Face the Nation" answer (752), he engages with the substance before redirecting.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Hasan Piker
More from this case
Read the full caseAbdul El-Sayed calls Piker’s 9/11 remark “a dumb comment” and rejects its use in the campaign
“It’s a dumb comment. He himself has called it a dumb comment. And they keep bringing it up because all they can talk about is the comment of a guy who has zero power aside from his stream, rather than talk about the guy who has a lot of power to make dumb wars that we’re paying for.”Read statement
Mike Rogers renews his rationale for the 9/11-related accusation against Abdul El-Sayed
“He can’t walk away from this, and he said multiple times that he won’t disavow what [Hasan Piker] said.”Read statement
El-Sayed disavows specific Piker remarks while defending the broader association
“When Hassan made these comments about Jewish Americans and Jewish Michiganders, I disavowed them entirely.”Read statement
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- El-Sayed disavows Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and says he gives it little weight
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The Dispute Index. "El-Sayed disavows Piker's al-Qaeda comparison and says he gives it little weight". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/957-after-hasan-piker-told-axios-that-the-united