Hasan Piker accuses Bill Maher of being an 'Islamophobe' and demonstrating 'anti-Blackness'
Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is dismissing Democrats who refuse to appear on his show but appear on other programs.
While campaigning with Michigan Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for U.S. Senate, Piker was asked by a Politico reporter about Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., refusing to appear on his Twitch stream, while being willing to sit down for interviews with people like Bill Maher.
"I mean, this double standard exists in American politics. Islamophobia is often times not considered at all. Bill Maher is not only an Islamophobe, but he has also demonstrated anti-Blackness at every turn, but at the end of the day, he is representative of the same forces of politics in this country that are aligned with the establishment goals, and therefore, there’s never a question about participating in his show," Piker told the reporter.
Piker did not explain why he believed Maher was an "Islamophobe," nor did he clarify what he meant when he said that the longtime comedian and political host "demonstrated anti-Blackness."
Piker has recently become a flashpoint for Democrats as some fear that platforming the controversial streamer gives Republicans political fodder, while others say that he helps candidates reach a broader audience.
The controversial streamer has been criticized for comments that some have characterized as being antisemitic and anti-American. He recently came under fire for saying it "doesn’t matter if f------ rapes happened on October 7. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me." Previously, in a more infamous moment, Piker was slammed for saying during a stream in 2019 that "America deserved 9/11." He later admitted the comments were "inappropriate."
Slotkin recently came under fire for her appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher," with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanding that she apologize. The organization called on Slotkin to denounce Maher's "long history of anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Arab racism."
ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT CONDEMNS PARTY MEMBERS RALLYING WITH FAR-LEFT STREAMER HASAN PIKER
Ahead of El-Sayed's event with Piker, Slotkin told Jewish Insider that while she was not familiar with the Twitch streamers language, she was concerned by what she knew about his rhetoric.
"Any equating of all Jews or American Jews with Israel and the Israeli government is a problem right off the bat, and then it sounds like, from there, a cascading set of antisemitic tropes and just the kind of rhetoric that is — I want to read for myself, but sounds deeply antisemitic, consistently, and therefore not someone that should be helping anybody out in the Michigan political environment," Slotkin said.
In light of the criticism, CAIR and CAIR-Michigan said in the joint statement that it was "deeply hypocritical" to appear on Maher's show.
"It was deeply hypocritical for Senator Slotkin to embrace Bill Maher just days after she denounced a Muslim politician for associating with a podcaster accused of bigotry," the joint statement read. "The double standards that American Muslims face, even from a senator who represents one of our nation’s largest Muslim populations, are truly remarkable. If consistency means anything to Senator Slotkin–and if she believes hate against any of her constituents is unacceptable–she must denounce Bill Maher’s bigotry and apologize for embracing him."
While Piker did not detail his objections to Maher, CAIR laid out a series of quotes that it deemed to be problematic. In one instance, Maher said that the "results are not good" for women who have dated Arab men. In another quote, Maher said he was "alarmed" by the fact that Mohammed had become the most popular name in the U.K.
Fox News Digital reached out to Maher's representatives for comment.