Hasan Piker says he’d ‘absolutely’ campaign for AOC in 2028 as El-Sayed distances himself
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said he would "absolutely" campaign for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., if she runs for president in 2028, as some Democratic politicians distance themselves from the streamer over his past remarks.
Appearing on an episode of "The Axios Show," taped in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Piker revealed his interest in working as a campaign surrogate for Ocasio-Cortez.
"What goes on behind the scenes in the Democratic Party and what gets talked about is entirely different, I think in many respects," Piker said.
Asked point-blank if he would campaign for Ocasio-Cortez in 2028, Piker said, "Oh, absolutely, yes."
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The controversial streamer revealed he has also been in touch with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, along with "politicians that you would not expect, that are not immediately seen as allies to Democratic socialists."
Piker's comments come as some Democratic politicians have begun distancing themselves from him following controversial remarks — including Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Michigan.
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When asked if Piker had been invited to campaign for El-Sayed, he said that he had not been asked to stay away from — or come to — Michigan.
"If my services are needed, I’ll go wherever," Piker said.
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He added that if El-Sayed were to call on him to campaign this close to the upcoming midterms, "there’d be real deep problems."
"My job isn’t to get 65-plus-year-olds out to vote for the Democratic candidate," Piker continued. "My job is to get under 45-year-old, college-educated, and non-college-educated men to come out and participate."
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Piker's comments during the Axios interview drew a public rebuke from El-Sayed after interviewer Alex Thompson recalled Piker's previous statement that "America is the top dog in terrorism."
"Do you think America, then, is worse than al Qaeda?" Thompson asked.
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"Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes," Piker replied. "We have caused tremendous terror all around the world."
"I think that that is not only terror that we are waging on regular civilians, and nations in the periphery, but it's also having consequences on ourselves," the Twitch streamer continued. "It's having dramatic consequences on the home front."
"One clear example of this is what we did in Minab [Iran]," Piker said, referring to a strike on a school earlier this year. A United Nations fact-finding mission said it found "reasonable grounds to believe" the U.S. carried out the strike and that the attack amounted to the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack. "There's no distinction between blowing up a school, triple-tapping it with Tomahawk missiles. If you're killing 140 schoolgirls, that is an act of terror."
WATCH: Hasan Piker says he would campaign for AOC if she runs for president
Piker finished his thought by conceding that not all Americans are terrorists, but emphasized the need for an "environment of accountability."
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The Twitch streamer’s inflammatory stance was quickly denounced by El-Sayed’s campaign, which condemned the views in a statement to Axios and Fox News Digital.
"I do not agree with this statement [on al-Qaeda], nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer," the campaign told the outlet. "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."
Piker’s apparent scramble to align himself with high-profile Democrats ahead of the midterm elections was noted by Kaivan Shroff, a media commentator and former digital organizer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
"The central tension with Hasan is that he wants his electoral influence taken seriously, but he also wants to operate like a streamer with no responsibility for what his comments create for the candidates he supports," Shroff told Fox News Digital. "You can’t claim credit for helping politicians win and then treat the consequences of your own rhetoric as their problem."
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Shroff said that Piker’s comments regarding Ocasio-Cortez are "a perfect example," adding that, "saying publicly that you’re talking to her and her team turns that relationship into a political story whether they wanted one or not. If the goal is to help a candidate, sometimes the most useful thing you can do is not make yourself the story."
He also pointed to the conflicting priorities between Piker and El-Sayed, which may be a factor in the division between the two far-left Democrats.
"El-Sayed has every reason to make clear that Hasan does not speak for his campaign, and Hasan criticizing him for creating that distance exposes the conflicting incentives here," Shroff said. "A candidate has to answer to voters…a streamer has to keep an audience engaged. If Hasan really wants to help the candidates he supports, an easier solution would be to stop handing them inflammatory comments they then have to explain and go away for a while."
Fox News Digital reached out to Piker and representatives for Ocasio-Cortez for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.