The left-wing streamer Hasan Piker warned last week that American Jews could be subjected to violence because of their support for Israel.
This prompted Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff (D) to react. Through a spokesman, Ossoff said on Thursday that he “unreservedly rejects” the rhetoric of the far-left streamer.
The spokesman said that Ossoff rejects “reckless and dangerous rhetoric suggesting that policy advocacy invites violence against the Jewish community or any other community”, writes Breitbart News. Piker has previously praised Ossoff and called him an “outsider” among the presidential candidates for the 2028 election.
Ossoff is Georgia’s first Jewish senator, and in other words does not appear to appreciate Piker’s praise. He believes that the ability to express one’s opinion should not come at any price.
“American Jews and all Americans must have the freedom and security to express themselves and petition the government without fear of reprisals.”
AJC: Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) condemns Hasan Piker
Pressed on Piker’s remarks, Ossoff said through a spokesperson that the Democrat “unreservedly rejects reckless and dangerous rhetoric suggesting that policy advocacy invites violence against the Jewish community or any…
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) August 27, 2026
Ossoff’s opponent in the Senate election in November, Mike Collins (R), has said that Piker helps him put the election campaign in Georgia into perspective.
“This election campaign is simple: It is America versus those who hate it.”
Venstresidens nye yndling støtter politisk vold: – Drep dem!
Seven-hour livestream
Piker made the statement during a livestream on 20 August that lasted nearly seven hours. Piker displayed a picture of Michigan Senator Jeremy Moss (D) on the screen. Moss is Jewish and openly gay, and supports a combination of Israel and a two-state solution, which neither Israel nor the Palestinians want. Moss does not support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“If Jews in the United States continue to spread this notion that they are particularly invested in Israel, eventually someone will emerge who takes action – not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) condemned the remarks on Monday, without mentioning Piker by name.
“Those comments were dangerous, malicious and antisemitic, and should not be tolerated by anyone in the public sphere,” Jeffries said.
The following day, he confirmed to CNN that it was Piker to whom he was referring.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D) went even further on CNN’s Inside Politics, where he described Piker’s formulation as a “Nazi-like formula” and argued that silence amounts to supporting it.
“You are complicit if you refuse to condemn such statements.”
Piker blames the pro-Israel lobby. He claimed that “calls had been made from AIPAC leadership” and that the lawmakers who criticised him were “united in their hatred”, and suggested calculating how much money his critics had received from AIPAC. He also called the backlash a “coordinated smear campaign”.
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is an American lobbying group that works for a strong relationship between the United States and Israel.
There is currently a split among the Democrats, between moderate Democrats and extremely radical representatives who are often associated with the far-left and quasi-communist group Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). This could lead to the Democrats suffering defeat in the midterm elections in November, since a significant number of moderate Democrats will not vote for radical forces affiliated with the DSA.
Piker is not himself politically active, but has considerable influence among the more extreme elements of the Democratic Party. He has shown his support for several of the most extreme, including Islamist Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan. Piker himself was born in the United States, but grew up in his parents’ home country of Turkey and was raised as a Muslim.
