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April 8, 2026 ~ Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed sits down with Ryan Ermanni to address his controversial appearance with Hasan Piker. Photo: Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK
EAST LANSING, MICH. ~ Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed hosted a rally Tuesday night at Michigan State University with U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, before heading to the University of Michigan later on. Despite criticism over Piker’s past comments about 9/11 and United States President Donald Trump, El-Sayed defended his right to share the stage “with certain people,” according to The Detroit News.
“I think we play this game where we do this platform policing, and we pretend like we’re not allowed to talk to certain groups of people because they said something we disagree with,” El-Sayed told Ryan Ermanni on ‘JR Afternoon about criticism of Piker’s past. “That’s just not how the world works. And if we did that, we would be dividing ourselves just like our politics is.”
The main talking point of the event, in which hundreds of students attended, was the war on Iran. El-Sayed spoke out against the conflict, claiming that “we will not sit idly by while … tax dollars go to fund a genocide on behalf of a foreign government.”
