Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed justified his relationship with progressive streamer Hasan Piker by saying the two have disagreements.
Speaking to CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe, El-Sayed was asked whether campaigning with Piker, who has found himself embroiled in several controversies over the years, was a good idea. El-Sayed said he wants to “reach out” to the streamer’s viewers, and claimed that there are some things that the pair don’t agree on, such as China.
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“You know there’s one other guy that you’ve campaigned with that has raised eyebrows, Hasan Piker,” O’Keefe noted.
“His eyebrows went up. Did you guys see that?” El-Sayed joked.
“As I said, raised eyebrows, I raised my eyebrows. Was campaigning with him a good idea?” the host asked.
“Look, I want to reach out to his viewers. He has a three 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 on,” the candidate explained. “The question of whether or not we should be guaranteeing people health care or sending our money abroad to drop bombs on other people, we agree. I think we should be providing healthcare here.”
“On the question of taking on the fascism of the Trump administration, we agree we should probably take that on. On the question of building competent functional infrastructure in America, we agree. And so why wouldn’t I, just like Vice President Harris did, seek to speak to his audience? He was invited to campaign at the — or to be at — the Democratic Convention in 2024,” he continued.
“Along with dozens of other influencers like him,” O’Keefe noted.
“Right. Just like I’ve talked to dozens of other influencers. I just think it’s interesting that there has now been a double standard around my campaigning with him that everybody sees as this big litmus test when nobody batted an eyelash to her having invited him to the DNC,” El-Sayed said. “So look, I’m going to go everywhere, talk to everyone. The same day that I campaigned with him, I also went on Fox & Friends. There’s a lot more I disagree with the hosts of Fox & Friends, and nobody seemed to be all that upset about that.”
“You gave me a list of things you agree with him on. Is there anything you disagree with him?” the host pushed.
“Yeah, certainly. Look, you know, on issues like related to China, the future of cars, we have disagreements. There’s things he said that I disagree with, but there’s also things he says that he disagrees with. There’s things that you said I disagree with, things that you say you probably disagree with. I just think this game where we sort of police people on the worst thing they said one time out of context to try to tell us who we cannot talk to is a great way to divide a party that really needs to figure out how to build a bigger version of itself,” El-Sayed offered.
“But when he says things like he didn’t have an issue with Hezbollah, that resonates more in this state than in many others,” O’Keefe suggested.
“Yeah, well, look, those are things that he and I are going to disagree on. But again, the idea that somehow I am going to hold myself accountable to the worst thing he said and then not reach out to his audience,” the Democrat added. “So he said things he’s going to agree with. I’ve said things, he’s going to disagree with and vice versa. But that’s how public conversation works. We have a discussion. We think about the things that we agree on and the things we don’t. And then if democracy is supposed to work like we want it to work, it’s supposed to be a pathway by which we engage with different people to show them a pathway back into democratic politics.”
“I think it’s worth asking ourselves, really, big picture, what is democracy for if not to create a peaceful way to resolve our disagreements? So if there are groups of people we’re just not going to talk to, ask yourself whether or not that’s good for democracy or bad for democracy. I just think it is probably better for us to be having those conversations. And I know when I engage with them that someday some enterprising journalist like you is going to come here and ask me about an out-of-context quote that he said and say, do you agree with this or disagree with it? And the bigger question is, do I agree that the three million people who listen to him ought to have a pathway into their politics? Do I agree that a smart politics, a winning politics for Democrats would be reaching out to them? I do. And so whether or not he and I agree on all the things he’s ever said is secondary to are there things we agree on and can we start engaging with folks so that they see a pathway back into democratic politics, back into voting, and back into a system where we’re supposed to be able to come together and make decisions about how we want to allocate scarce resources,” he continued.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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