El Sayed Refuses to Ditch Hate Streamer Hasan Piker, Eyes Huge Middle Class Tax Hike [WATCH]

Democratic Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El Sayed refused Sunday to distance himself from notorious streamer Hasan Piker, even as the candidate acknowledged that his sweeping Medicare for All proposal would likely require middle class Americans to pay more in taxes.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” El Sayed left open the possibility of campaigning with Piker during a general election contest against Republican Mike Rogers. He merely described Piker’s infamous 2019 declaration that “America deserved 9/11” as foolish.

“It was a dumb statement,” El Sayed said.

“He disavowed it. So yes. America didn’t deserve 9/11.”

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The candidate then complained about what he characterized as political point scoring.

El Sayed said critics were trying “to sit here and play gotcha politics with a dumb thing somebody said out of context” instead of judging him by his own conduct.

That defense conveniently skips over Piker’s broader record of inflammatory rhetoric.

Although Piker later called his September 11 remark “inappropriate,” he was subsequently seen with a framed front page newspaper image showing the Twin Towers after the terrorist assault.

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More than 2,750 people, most of them Americans, were killed in New York City alone during the September 11 attacks.

For most voters, treating rhetoric about that national tragedy as some harmless verbal stumble is unlikely to close the case.

Piker also generated outrage by calling the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack a “direct consequence” of Israeli conduct.

While discussing allegations of rape by Hamas terrorists, he said that even if such crimes occurred, it “doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”

The streamer has also praised the “brave mujahedeen” who injured Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw during his military service.

He later suggested that Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott should be murdered, adding another ugly entry to a record El Sayed apparently considers politically manageable.

Piker, an admirer of Mao Zedong, also faced criticism after appearing to use a shock collar on his dog during a stream.

Yet El Sayed repeatedly appeared with him throughout a rough Democratic primary, giving Rogers abundant material for campaign advertisements.

Asked whether Piker could remain part of his campaign efforts, El Sayed declined to shut the door.

“I’m less concerned now with who I’m campaigning with and a lot more concerned about who I’m campaigning to,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to continue to build the coalition that’s going to beat Mike Rogers,” El Sayed added.

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That answer suggests political usefulness matters more to the candidate than drawing a clear line against Piker’s long trail of revolting statements.

El Sayed also acknowledged during the interview that his Medicare for All agenda could reach beyond taxing the wealthy.

His explanation strongly suggested that middle class workers would send more money to Washington, even if private insurance premiums were reduced or eliminated.

“Imagine instead of paying that to your health insurance company, whose CEO makes $20 million a year, instead you paid a little bit more in taxes for health care that you wouldn’t lose if you lost your job or turned 26 or got married or got divorced,” El Sayed said.

“I think that’s a trade that’s worth making,” he added.

Of course, Washington politicians have long promised that another tax increase will somehow save ordinary families money, while the federal bureaucracy grows and taxpayers remain stuck with the bill.

A 2020 analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that Medicare for All would require between $2.5 trillion and $3.5 trillion in additional federal spending each year across a decade.

Implementing such a program now would likely carry an even larger price.

El Sayed’s proposal would eliminate copayments and deductibles, making it more expansive than the existing Medicare system.

That system’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is already projected to become insolvent during the early 2030s, hardly a reassuring foundation for another massive federal entitlement.

The United States currently operates with a federal budget of roughly $7.4 trillion for fiscal year 2026, including a deficit near $2 trillion.

Adding trillions more in annual obligations would require enormous new revenue, spending cuts elsewhere, or another explosion of federal debt.

Rogers quickly seized on El Sayed’s admission.

“Weird. I thought Abdul’s campaign promise was more money in your pocket. This sounds a lot like more money for the government,” the Republican wrote on X.

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Michigan voters are now getting a clear look at El Sayed’s pitch.

He will not firmly abandon a radical streamer, and his signature health care plan appears ready to raid middle class paychecks in the familiar name of government compassion.

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