STORY-TRÅD·politik

Hasan Piker on "The Axios Show": America worse than al-Qaeda "pound for pound"

LOS ANGELES — Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker tells Axios he believes America conducts more terrorism in the world than al-Qaeda, the terror network that carried out the 9/11 attacks."Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes," Piker said in an exclusive interview for a new episode of "The Axios Show." Piker added: "We have caused tremendous terror all around the world."Why it matters: Piker is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, and his history of incendiary statements has become central to Republicans' attacks in the critical Senate race in Michigan since Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed had Piker campaign for him in the primary.Driving the news: Piker's comments to Axios came in response to a question about his previous statement that "America is the top dog in terrorism."Piker pointed to the deaths of more than 100 people at an elementary school in Minab, Iran, earlier this year. The AP found evidence that at least one U.S. missile struck the school."If you're killing 140 schoolgirls, that is an act of terror," he said. "This doesn't mean that all Americans are terrorists, but the reality of the matter is we have to create an environment of accountability to ensure things like that never happen again."The Trump administration has not yet released findings from a Pentagon investigation, and an exact death toll is not known.The big picture: Republican-affiliated groups already have spent nearly $3 million in ads attacking El-Sayed over his affiliation with Piker, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.Most of the ads feature a clip of Piker in 2019 saying that "America deserved 9/11." He apologized for the remark and has since argued that the terror attacks were part of "blowback" from U.S. involvement in the Middle East in previous decades."This doesn't justify the action, mind you," he told Axios. "This is more so analysis to stop further violence from taking place, both violence in the region, but also violence in the home front as well."Michigan's GOP Senate nominee, Mike Rogers, also frequently ties Piker to El-Sayed.In his speech at the recent Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Rogers said: "Abdul El-Sayed has chosen Hasan as his running mate. Together, they attack America, excuse extremism, and treat our country like the villain."El-Sayed has largely dodged questions about Piker and occasionally appeared irritated by them, often referring to him as just a "streamer in California.""The reason I talk to Hasan isn't because of Hasan, it's because of the 3 million people who pay attention to what he has to say," El-Sayed told Fox 2 Detroit Tuesday night at a debate where Rogers didn't show up."Too often the way that our politics happen is that we're told who we cannot talk to," El-Sayed added.In a statement to Axios on Wednesday, El-Sayed said, "I do not agree with this statement [on al-Qaeda], nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer. I am more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders."