It’s clear that hating America is still in vogue. Far from banished to the pages of history, the waves of national self-disgust throughout the political Left of the early and mid-20th century have been given a modern facelift and are back, angrier than ever before.
Turkish-born and Muslim-raised Hasan Piker is undeniably the most prominent, shameless, and obvious example of this phenomenon. A multi-millionaire celebrity through the miracles of American capitalism, Piker spends his time expressing his absolute hatred for the country that gave him everything, live-streaming to his fans from his $2.7 million mansion in West Hollywood.
And when he’s not streaming from his mansion, you’ll probably see him racing around in his $200,000 Porsche, or poring over his favorite copy of Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book.
WHY IS IT A ‘RISK’ FOR DEMOCRATS TO CONDEMN ISLAMIC TERRORISM?
For Piker, there is no single brick in the American or Western foundation that is worthy of praise or defense. While drooling over communist China or touring Cuba, he has defended the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson because the insurance industry engages in “social murder,” as well as advocating the murder of Republican lawmakers; he has openly declared that “it doesn’t matter if rape happened on Oct. 7”; and he has also proclaimed that America deserved 9/11.
During a recent appearance on a New York Times podcast, he even came out in support of theft and piracy.
Look, it’s fine to oppose something within your own country, or even hate something within your own country. I despise abortion, for example, but does that mean I hate America? Absolutely not. I love America, and I want to express this love by making America better.
But people like Piker don’t want to make America better or express their love of America. Why? Because they openly hate America and are apparently obsessed with making it mirror countries they actually like.
Communist dictatorships, in Piker’s case.
Of course, one question here is simply: “Why don’t you leave?” While I’m not a fan of telling anyone who has a criticism of American policy to “get out,” if you despise every element of American life and adore countries like China, Cuba, and a long list of Muslim dictatorships, why not just move there? Surely they’d be delighted to embrace such an avid and dedicated soldier in the battle for communism and/or Islamism?
The fact that Piker’s luxurious lifestyle might take a hit is presumably part of the calculus here.
But there’s a deeper problem beyond the stunning hypocrisy of pseudo-anaracho-communist streamer frauds: the fact that Democrats are testing the waters with this same strategy.
Look at how the Democratic Party and its institutions are embracing someone such as Piker, including churning out multiple glowing profiles and handing him endless podcast interviews to demonstrate his radicalism over and over again, with nothing but nods and grins in response.
One particular lowlight has to be his appearance on Pod Save America a few weeks ago with Jon Favreau, former President Barack Obama’s director of speechwriting, during which Piker confirmed that he would prefer Hamas over Israel “every single time.”
Now, in the past, Piker would have exemplified the sort of radicalism that would be toxic for any Democratic candidate on the national stage.
MICHIGAN SENATE HOPEFUL ABDUL EL SAYED LABELS TRUMP NETANYAHU’S ‘DUMBA**’ OVER IRAN WAR
And yet, support is rising for Piker’s chosen candidate in the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, Abdul El Sayed, who himself defended Islamic terrorism.
What if this goes beyond Dearborn, Michigan, and the radical wing of the Democratic Party continues to Dearborn-ify the United States? As we slowly approach the 2028 elections, will the Democrats reject Piker as they would have done in the past? Or will this bizarre fascination with someone who despises everything about this country continue, leaving them to keep falling over themselves like giddy schoolchildren to bask in his shadow, all to get a piece of the action and a piece of his audience?
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. You can find his work on Substack.