Hasan Piker divides Democrats as party grapples with young male voters Democrats are divided over whether to embrace Hasan Piker to win young men or reject him to protect the party's credibility. Hasan Piker's emergence as a Democratic campaign surrogate has split the party between those who see him as a crucial bridge to millions of young voters and those who view his inflammatory rhetoric as a liability that could cost elections. When Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, announced this week that Piker, a far-left Twitch streamer, would appear, the conflict inside Democratic ranks erupted. The decision drew immediate fire from El-Sayed's primary opponents and national Democratic figures, forcing a rare public reckoning over how far the party should go to recapture young men who abandoned it in record numbers in 2024. The backlash intensified because of timing. Just 12 days before El-Sayed's announcement, a truck plowed into a suburban Detroit synagogue, wounding a guard in what authorities called a targeted attack on the Jewish community. Democratic officials seized on that context to attack the decision. Representative Haley Stevens told Jewish Insider that"someone who's campaigning with someone like that is not going to win in Michigan." State Senator Mallory McMorrow compared Piker to Nick Fuentes, the far-right nationalist influencer, saying Piker"says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks."Piker, 34, who broadcasts to hundreds of thousands of viewers weekly, has built a strong audience on topics like wealth inequality, labor rights and progressive causes. Most recently, he traveled to Cuba as part of an aid convoy critical of the TrumpBut he has also made statements that critics say cross ethical lines. He said the October 7 Hamas attack was a"direct consequence" of Israeli and American actions. He stated that sexual violence on October 7"doesn't change the dynamic for me." He once claimed America"deserved" Sept. 11, though he later apologized. When asked this week whether he had misspoken, Piker said:"Misspoken? No. Taken out of context? Absolutely." He said he stood by his other controversial statements.op-ed warning that Piker carries"anti-American, anti-women, anti-Western and antisemitic" baggage. "No Democrat should engage with him. All should seek to push him to the fringe, where he belongs," the op-ed said, signed by Third Way co-founder Jonathan Cowan and Lily Cohen. Co-founder Matt Bennett echoed that sentiment to POLITICO, saying Democrats"take on all of his baggage if they don't overtly reject" him, which he said"empowers the right and gives them an incredibly powerful tool." Piker pushed back on the characterization. He described Third Way as"losing their institutional relevance" and said he functioned as a megaphone for voters already frustrated with the Democratic establishment. "There are a lot of Barbs and Deborahs out there in Minneapolis that have never encountered me, and yet they share that frustration with the failures of establishment liberalism all the same," he told POLITICO.compared to 2020, a shift that helped propel him back to the White House. Piker is one of the few prominent left-wing voices operating in digital spaces where young men congregate. Last year, New York's Zohran Mamdani won his mayoral race after appearing on Piker's stream. AOC has livestreamed with him. Bernie Sanders is scheduled to rally with Piker this weekend at a tax-the-rich event. Those appearances suggested to Democrats that Piker's massive following represented an untapped opportunity to reach voters the party had lost. El-Sayed's decision to use Piker as a surrogate reflected that calculation. "Maybe it's because politicians don't talk to folks in the places they actually are, or worse, purposely exclude them," El-Sayed said in defending the partnership.Representative Ro Khanna publicly supported the decision, arguing that Democrats"must include engaging with Israel critics like Hasan Piker as Pod Save hosts have done." He cautioned against"cancelling people or shaming people like Hasan Piker."he questioned Democratic strategy itself"The Democrats have no story," he said. Right-wing influencers like Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro reach young men by meeting them where they are, Piker argued, while Democrats ask those voters to meet the party on its terms."They meet guys where they are," he said."The left tries to get them to meet us where we are, and that doesn't work." Piker has also blamed the Democratic retreat on substantive issues."From Gaza to immigration, Democrats have hesitated or backpedaled, fearing backlash instead of defending positions young voters care about," he said. "They're terrified of taking real positions, so they just say, 'We're not the Republicans.' That's not enough."But POLITICO's survey of 14 potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates revealed deep resistance to the idea. Only three said they would appear on Piker's stream: Khanna, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Rahm Emanuel. Senators Cory Booker, Ruben Gallego and Elissa Slotkin declined. Booker's office was direct:"Mr. Piker's terrible comments about Jewish people, 9/11, and other areas aren't the kinds of conversations Cory participates in and he will not be joining him on his stream." The other major 2028 figures—Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear and others—did not respond to requests for comment.The split reflects a fundamental disagreement within the party. Some Democrats argue that the cost of ignoring young male voters is higher than the risk of association with Piker. Others contend that legitimizing him erodes Democratic credibility on antisemitism and other issues, handing Republicans ammunition heading into the midterms.. Among men under 45, Trump has moved from a five-point advantage in 2024 to a net approval rating of minus nine in recent polling. That shift has intensified pressure on Democrats to compete for voters they lost in 2024, even if it means enlisting controversial figures like Piker. "I've talked to Hasan. I think he's doing, in many respects, a good job," Sanders said in a recent viral clip with YouTuber Keith Edwards."We've got to speak to people." The Michigan primary will test the calculation. If El-Sayed advances with Piker's support, the party will face continued pressure to engage with him, some analysts predict. If he loses, Democrats will likely use the result to justify keeping him at a distance. Piker said he expected the party to keep debating his role."Who knows how things change?" he said."This is a very dynamic environment.", ours is different: The Courageous Center—it's not"both sides," it's sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.