On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) responded to the controversy around Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s relationship with Hasan Piker by saying that “I’m tired of people trying to drag me into it. I strongly disagree with many of the things that Hasan Piker has said,” and “it’s incumbent upon Abdul to make it very clear to people that he doesn’t agree with things that Hasan Piker says. I pray we’re not going to see him in Michigan from now until the election. But I’m focused on getting healthcare back for the people that I represent and people around this country.”
Co-host Wolf Blitzer asked, “I want to get to Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, who now appears to be distancing himself somewhat from far-left influencer Hasan Piker, after Piker’s very controversial comments about American Jews. El-Sayed said in a statement that ‘nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.’ And he accused politicians and pundits of trying to make this race about a Twitch streamer. Are you satisfied with how El-Sayed has handled this uproar?”
Dingell answered, “Look, I’m going to say this to you: I’m tired of people trying to drag me into it. I strongly disagree with many of the things that Hasan Piker has said, from Israel to, quite frankly, if you’re a woman who has fought against sexual violence and domestic violence her whole life, what he has said about rape, etc., is simply inexcusable. I don’t understand some of the followers and why they follow people. And I got in trouble when I said, maybe it’s generational, he works out and they say he looks buff. What he has said is just wrong. I think that — what I know that this election’s about in November is being able to reverse the healthcare cuts that we’ve had in this country, the millions of Americans who don’t have healthcare right now, the kids that are already going hungry, and the seniors, because we’ve cut the SNAP program. And we have to elect somebody that is not going to be a rubber stamp to the Trump policies we have seen the last two years. I think it’s incumbent upon Abdul to make it very clear to people that he doesn’t agree with things that Hasan Piker says. I pray we’re not going to see him in Michigan from now until the election. But I’m focused on getting healthcare back for the people that I represent and people around this country.”
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