Increasingly lost Dems are cozying up to Hasan Piker in quest for youth vote — but setting themselves up to fail again
Increasingly lost Dems are cozying up to Hasan Piker in quest for youth vote — but setting themselves up to fail again
The Democrat Party’s desperation to be seen as cool again, and their unending “bewilderment” at losing the youth vote in 2024 has the Party in perpetual panic — leading some to rush to “corrosive, vile” personalities, Dem congressional staffers griped to The Post.
After carting out Hollywood A-listers like Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Megan Thee Stallion for youth appeal flopped in the last election, Democrats have been attempting to understand and embrace younger new media creators.
Center stage in Democrat political circles has risen avowed socialist and far-left streamer Hasan Piker, despite accusations of rabid antisemitism and shocking his dog.
Democrats are rolling out internet firebrand Hasan Piker in a desperate attempt to rally the youth vote and appeal to young men. Instagram/@hasandpiker
Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), New York mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democratic political advisor Saikat Chakrabarti have all appeared on his show. California governor Gavin Newsom said he would be open to the idea of appearing on his show, but has so far not been booked for it. Piker has campaigned with Summer Lee (D-Penn.) and progressive Muslim candidate Abdul El-Sayed, running for US Senate in Michigan.
“I’m a young man. It’s belittling to say you need this antisemitic … jerk to get young men,” one Democratic congressional staffer told The Post.
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“He gives Republicans ammo for all the negative stereotypes against Democrats — that we’re weak, hate America, and are Communists.”
Piker has denied antisemitism accusations, saying his criticisms of Israel are of the country’s government and not directed at Jewish people broadly.
Piker, described as a less sweet Mamdani, helped get his fellow socialist elected mayor of New York. @zohrankmamdani/Instagram
Piker has 3.1 million followers on the video game streaming site Twitch, mostly young men, but no one can say what percentage are voting age — or even Americans.
“I used to watch him when I was younger. I thought he was funny. I liked how he trolled Republicans,” the staffer continued.
“But after Oct. 7 what he was saying was so egregious and offensive I realized he isn’t a Democrat or a liberal. He’s a communist Third Worlder who wants the worst for this country. Why do we want to be associated with him as a party?” the staffer asked.
One former Biden appointee, also a Gen Z male, told The Post the Democrats’ mission to find “the left’s Joe Rogan” — referring to the US’s most popular podcaster, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 — is a fool’s errand.
Hasan Piker, left, listens as Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan, speaks in a green room before a campaign rally, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. AP
“The Democrats are looking for answers as to how they lost young men so badly. The party is thinking about podcasts and Joe Rogans, but Hasan Piker doesn’t seem like the right person to lead that charge,” he said.
“Rogan has this massive podcast that’s largely apolitical. He isn’t an ideologue. He represents the everyman. Hasan is a champagne Marxist who is exclusively focused on politics. He brings nothing to the table with the left,” the current staffer said.
That hasn’t stopped Democrats from trying to manufacture their own influencers to recapture the youth vote, especially young men — although it usually blows up in their faces, according to conservative Gen Z influencer Jayme Leagh Franklin.
Hasan Piker, left, and Abdul El-Sayed, center right, take a selfie with young fans during campaign events in Michigan, where the appearance stirred a firestorm among Democrats and Jewish groups. AP
She pointed to the slick, performative politics of 23-year-old Tik Tok influencer Harry Sisson — an activist who churns out pro-Democrat, anti-Trump content and is bankrolled in part by liberal political groups, per FEC filings — who largely flopped in 2024.
Franklin, 25, told The Post that Piker has one thing Democrats desperately crave — authenticity — as they try to recreate the grassroots electoral magic that led to fellow socialist and Piker-pal Mamdani’s election last year.
“Going viral is definitely the way to reach the youth,” Franklin, founder of the young women’s magazine The Conservateur, said.
“The Democrat Party does not have the cool factor. It has a really cringey factor. Everything feels poll tested. Is Hasan cool? Maybe, for a Democrat.
“I think they saw success with Mamdani in New York. They’re trying to recreate that and testing it for the national level,” Franklin said, but noted: “Piker and Mamdani have similar politics, but Piker does not come off as a nice guy, Zohran does, with his big smile that I think tricked a lot of people, especially young women, into voting for him.”
This month, Piker spent time in San Francisco with Democrat congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, where the two frolicked around a liquor store with the candidate gushing over the controversial far-left streamer calling him a “friend” and “good person.” San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
A recently unearthed stream showed Piker hurling obscenities in response to a refugee from communist Vietnam, saying “suck my d–k old lady.” RNC Research/ X
Jewish groups including the Simon Wiesenthal Center have slammed Piker, 34, as a “known antisemite” over his history of saying America deserved 9/11, downplaying the Oct. 7 attacks, and his fierce anti-Israel rhetoric.
On April 7, Piker headlined campaign rallies with El-Sayed at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, drawing packed crowds of young progressives.
In one viral moment from the Michigan event, El-Sayed was asked about a recent Hezbollah-inspired truck-ramming terrorist attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield in the state.
“It’s just critical for us to understand that hurt people do hurt people, and the circumstances happening 6,000 miles away can affect the lives that we live here,” El-Sayed responded, with Piker nodding along next to him.
Gen Z conservative influencers Jayme Leagh Franklin told The Post, “The Democrat Party does not have the cool factor. It has a really cringey factor. Everything feels poll tested. Is Hasan cool? Maybe, for a Democrat.” Courtesy of Jayme Leagh Franklin
Piker has 3.1 million followers on the video game streaming service Twitch, mostly young men, but its unclear how many are voting age–or even Americans. Instagram/@hasandpiker
Appearing on “Fox & Friends” before the event, El-Sayed defended his decision to appear with Piker, “Of course I oppose rape. Of course I don’t think 9/11 was justified,” referring to past controversial comments made by Piker.
“[Just] because you appear with somebody, doesn’t mean you agree with them on everything.”
On various live streams Piker has made comments including: “Hamas is a thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state” of Israel; “America deserved 9/11, dude. F—k it, I’m saying it” and “It doesn’t matter if f—ing rapes happened on Oct. 7. That doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”
He’s also called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” separately called for the murder of landlords and in another incident, was accused of activating his dog’s shock collar during a livestream to keep the poor beast from walking out of frame.
TikTok influencer Harry Sisson became a Democrat cheerleader and anti-Trump online commentator, hoping to luring young men back to the Dems, but critics say it didn’t work. Harry Sisson/ Instagram
FEC filings show Sisson was at least partly bankrolled by liberal PACs and critics say he didn’t come off as authentic enough to connect with young voters. Harry Sisson/ Instagram
Piker denied activating the shock collar, and said the landlord comment was “hyperbolic” and “not meant to be sincere.” He did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story by columnist Ezra Klein defending Piker, originally headlined “Hasan Piker Is Not the Enemy.” However, the headline was quietly changed to “This Is Why There’s No Liberal Joe Rogan,” a few hours later after it caused uproar online.
The outlet was accused of doing something similar in 2025 when it ran a glowing profile of Piker, originally with the headline “A Progressive Mind in a MAGA body,” which was later changed to “A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the ‘Manosphere’,” according to the Daily Mail. The profile also left out all of his most controversial moments and criticisms.
One photo originally included in the article was also cropped to cut out an comment on Piker’s computer screen which made lewd comments about an Israel Defense Forces soldier, according to the Daily Mail.
A newly unearthed video of a young, beefy Piker showed him making crude sexual jokes about girls and spreading transphobic conspiracy theories about pop star Lady Gaga. Ian Miles Cheong / X
Piker, who was born in New Jersey to wealthy parents but grew up in Istanbul, got his start on his uncle’s media network, The Young Turks. Getty Images for The Young Turks
After getting flack over appearing on Piker’s podcast, Khanna told “Meet the Press” on NBC: “Should we just have these purity tests of canceling folks? The lesson of the last election is we’ve got to be out there. We’ve got to engage. It’s a complex, messy, multi-racial democracy. I will defend my views, but the people who are saying, ‘Don’t engage,’ will cost us future elections.”
Hill staffers who spoke to The Post said liberal media is to blame for the party’s Piker problem, citing sexy profiles in the New York Times and GQ magazine, the latter of which saw him photographed in swim trunks, wet T-shirt, and lounging on a bed pin-up style with come-hither eyes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is warm to the idea of sitting down with the controversial streamer as he’s rumored to run for president in 2028. Anadolu via Getty Images
Piker was accused of animal abuse by an online mob after he appeared to zap his dog during a live stream because the dog wouldn’t sit still. The dog, which was wearing what appeared to be a shock collar, let out a sharp yelp as Piker appeared to press a button off camera. @HasanAbi
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) called out fellow Party members and candidates for choosing to associate with Piker, writing on X last month: “Hasan Piker is an unapologetic antisemite. Democrats risk losing our credibility to condemn those on the right who traffic in bigotry, antisemitism, & hate when our own Members of Congress & candidates are celebrating or, worse yet, platforming those who espouse hate of any kind.”
Piker, the son of wealthy immigrants from Turkey, was born in New Brunswick, NJ, but grew up in Instabul, only coming back to the US when he was 17 to attend Rutgers University. He got his start on air at the popular progressive media company The Young Turks, owned by his uncle Cenk Uygur.
On a recent trip to Cuba the “champagne Marxist,” as one source dubbed him, was videochatting with the New York Times from a luxury hotel while reportedly wearing $1,300 Cartier sunglasses.
In other recently unearthed footage, Piker went on an explicated-laden rant reacting to a Vietnamese refugee who escaped communism, who was explaining why her community supported Donald Trump, barking: “F–k you old lady. Shut the f–k up you stupid f–king idiotic old lady […] Suck my d–k old lady […] F–k this refugee!”
Democrats are desperate to bottle and sell the grassroots organic magic of socialist Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, with some believing controversial streamer and Mamdani-pal Piker might be the key. Lev Radin/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com
Piker got his start on his uncle, Cenk Uygur’s (left), popular progressive outlet, The Young Turks, but left to become a full time streamer. Joe Scarnici
“The party hasn’t figured itself out and what its message should be,” the former Biden appointee said.
“In looking for those answers, the Democratic party has opened itself up to opportunists who want to change the party, for the better or worse.”
In another resurfaced video Piker called children’s TV show character Hannah Montana “a little slut,” repeated transphobic conspiracy theories about popstar Lady Gaga, and asked of young girls, “old enough to count, old enough to mount?” He later told Newsweek the video was made when he was “way more bro-y than I am now,” and defended his comments as satire.
The former Biden appointee blasted Democrats for selective outrage.
Democrat congressional staffers moaned to The Post that finger-wagging from establishment types was creating a “Streisand effect,” fueling Piker’s popularity further. AP
Democrats told The Post that their own media was to blame for their Hasan headache–with sexy, fawning profiles in the New York Times and GQ. FilmMagic
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“If you criticized Donald Trump for having dinner with Nick Fuentes, you better be willing to criticize any Democrat meeting with Hasan Piker,” the former Biden appointee said, referring to the popular Gen Z far-right influencer Fuentes, who has also been accused of antisemitism. He met with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2022.
“On a number of these issues, if Dems chose to go down the most extreme routes, they won’t be rewarded.”
