Afternoon, Insiders. In today’s edition of “The Inner Circle with Rachael Bade,” a certain “Twitch streamer in California” opens his mouth — again. Buckle up. Mentioned today: Abdul El-Sayed, Hasan Piker, Symone Sanders, Haley Stevens, Mark Kelly, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Jay Powell, David Sacks, Susie Wiles, Scott Bessent, JD Vance, Ashley Hinson.
Just as Senate Dems are finally starting to rally behind ABDUL EL-SAYED in Michigan, his buddy HASAN PIKER goes and does it again — because, of course he does.
Weeks before the all-critical midterms, Piker just HAS to make himself the main character once again, handing Republicans a whole new box of ammo and making Democrats everywhere groan, facepalm, and reconsider their life choices…
😬 WHAT DID HE DO THIS TIME? In a new Axios interview, Piker decided to argue that America is worse than al-Qaeda when it comes to terrorism. Yes, that al-Qaeda — the one behind 9/11, the murder of 3,000 Americans, and a track record of carnage so awful it can’t be described in this one paragraph.
Piker, in his infinite wisdom, pointed to the U.S. bombing of an elementary girls’ school in Iran, which killed over 100. Earth to Piker: That was a tragedy, yes — but it wasn’t intentional. We don’t target innocents — unlike the twisted group he compared America to.
🙈 HERE’S A QUESTION: Why can’t this guy just log off? Seriously. He claims to want Democrats to win Congress, but he’s out here making sure they have to answer for his crazy instead.
We’re 47 days from the midterms, and he’s giving interviews to prominent reporters at Axios and MS Now. In the latter, even left-leaning host SYMONE SANDERS flatly told Piker that if she was advising a candidate, she would “absolutely be telling my people to disavow you… because we want to win!”
“If you’re not going to help people win… distance!” she said, clapping back when he objected: “I’ve elected people… you’ve never elected anybody.”
It’s like Piker has an allergy to not being in the spotlight. Which means — congratulations, Democrats! — now you get to spend the next news cycle answering reporters asking: “Do you agree America is worse than al-Qaeda?” They’ll all answer no, of course. But then the follow-up will once again center on Piker and why some in the party are embracing him at all.
Is this embarrassing episode going to decide the midterms? No. But is it a distracting headache when Dems need to keep the focus on prices and affordability concerns? Absolutely.
🤦 BAD TIMING — The unfortunate quip comes as Democrats were finally uniting behind El-Sayed after six weeks of drama post-HALEY STEVENS’ bitter primary loss. One huge hesitation all along? El-Sayed’s friendship with Piker, who he’s campaigned with and seemingly befriended — even though he’s now trying to create some distance…
That all changed yesterday when El-Sayed met here in D.C. with Senate Dems; lawmakers emerged vowing to come to his aid in the Wolverine State.
Sen. MARK KELLY (D-Ariz.), Mr. Astronaut Moderate himself, is planning to stump with him.
DSCC Chair KRISTEN GILLIBRAND is singing his praises.
CHUCK SCHUMER’S outside super PAC is dropping another $10 million into the race.
And KAMALA HARRIS is packing her bags for Michigan next week to stump for him.
To be fair, El-Sayed has said he disagrees with some of Piker’s more radioactive takes — like that America “deserved” 9/11. But El-Sayed hasn’t disavowed him — probably because he doesn’t want to alienate young progressives. Now that Piker’s found a new way to set his hair on fire, we’ll see if that changes.
👀 🎥 TODAY’S WATCH — On our morning YouTube show The Huddle, Republican Sean Spicer, Democrat Dan Turrentine and I discuss El-Sayed’s Piker headache. Plus…
—🏦 WARSH DEFIES TRUMP — President DONALD TRUMP spent most of his term trolling JAY POWELL for not lowering interest rates enough. Now his own pick to lead the Fed has voted with the board to increase rates — and there’s likey another hike coming. Trump blamed the other board members, but how long until he turns on his own nominee? Sean, Dan and I take bets.
— 🤖 INSIDE THE WH’S AI DIVIDE — Cracks are emerging in the West Wing over how to handle the AI freakout, WSJ scoops. In one ear, Trump is hearing from (and clearly heeding!) anti-regulation AI guru DAVID SACKS. But there’s a “quiet freakout” happening internally, per WSJ. And chief of staff SUSIE WILES and Treasury Secretary SCOTT BESSENT are actively trying to change Trump’s mind daily.
— 🌽 GOP PROBLEMS IN IOWA — Vice President JD VANCE is headed to Iowa to rally with Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial hopeful. NOT attending? Senate GOP candidate ASHLEY HINSON — but is this a miscalculation on her part? We dive into Dems late-breaking Iowa momentum.
Catch our fuller conversation on today’s The Huddle. Subscribe to my new YouTube channel. Or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Piker hating America issue is not only limited to the vile, terrorist-loving Hasan but extends to allegations against Abdul el-Sayed himself. The Free Beacon collected his "Greatest Loving Terrorist Hits," including Hamas.
https://x.com/FreeBeacon/status/2100586586509332577?s=20
We'll need more on analysis from our hostess here. What is coming to the fore with the Democrat Party?