Following the August 4 primary election, Mike Rogers—the Republican nominee for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat and a former U.S. House member—painted his Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed, as an extremist.
In an August 5 statement that leaned on his background in law enforcement fighting terrorism, Rogers remarked, “Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11.”
While this sharp attack stems from El-Sayed’s campaign ties to high-profile Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, the sentiment was never actually uttered by El-Sayed himself. Instead, the controversy surrounds Piker, who campaigned alongside El-Sayed earlier in the year and had previously stated in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11”—a remark he has since walked back.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, addressed the situation publicly on the morning of his joint campaign events with Piker in April.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” a host questioned whether El-Sayed endorsed Piker’s past statements regarding the 2001 attacks.
“Of course I don’t think 9/11 was justified,” El-Sayed replied. “Because you appear with somebody doesn’t mean you agree with him on everything.”
When asked for evidence backing Rogers’ claim, his campaign directed attention to a clip of El-Sayed at a campaign event where he was pressed to disavow Piker’s remarks, to which El-Sayed responded by criticizing the pressure as “cancel culture.” The campaign also referenced a moment where El-Sayed avoided confirming whether he would campaign with Piker again in the future.
“Abdul was asked point blank if he’d disavow Hasan Piker’s comments, and he wouldn’t do it. That tells you everything you need to know,” argued Rogers campaign spokesperson Alyssa Brouillet.
Conversely, when questioned about Rogers’ 9/11 comments on MSNOW, El-Sayed denounced the remark as Islamophobic, arguing that Rogers was leveraging the rhetoric to sow division.
The Background on Piker’s 9/11 Remarks
Hasan Piker ranks among the most prominent political figures on Twitch, regularly pulling in upwards of 25,000 live viewers. A self-avowed socialist, he frequently stumps for progressive primary challengers aiming to unseat moderate Democrats.
Piker has frequently faced backlash for his commentary on the war in Gaza, including expressions of support for militant organizations like the Houthis and Hezbollah. Critics have also leveled accusations of antisemitism against him after he used the term “inbred” to describe certain Orthodox Jews. While Piker has pushed back against that label, he has freely identified as anti-Zionist rather than antisemitic.
The specific controversy stems from an August 2019 livestream. While reacting to U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Piker remarked, “America deserved 9/11, dude,” adding that the nation “totally brought it on ourselves.”
Two days later, Piker walked back those statements during an appearance on the progressive YouTube program “The Young Turks,” where he served as a contributor. He clarified that he condemns violence and was attempting to argue that U.S. interventionist policies in the Middle East ultimately fueled the extremism behind the attacks.
“All of the foreign policy decisions, and our arming of insurgent groups in the region, and our efforts in destabilizing the Middle East have a direct consequence, a boomerang effect if you will, in causing 9/11,” Piker explained at the time.
While campaigning alongside El-Sayed in April, Piker clarified to The Associated Press that he “didn’t mean that Americans deserved to die.”
El-Sayed’s Response to the Backlash
El-Sayed informed the Michigan Advance that he chose to appear alongside Piker on April 7 across campuses like Michigan State University and the University of Michigan because the influencer successfully engages demographics that often feel “locked out” of conventional political dialogue.
When pressed by a reporter at one of those stops to disavow Piker’s historical remarks, El-Sayed opted not to single anything out, dismissing the line of questioning as cancel culture.
“I’m not here to disavow people’s views,” El-Sayed stated. “This whole gotcha game, platform policing, cancel culture, I thought we were over it.”
Even before those campaign stops, El-Sayed explicitly told “Fox and Friends” on the morning of April 7 that he disagreed with the notion that 9/11 was justified.
Since securing his victory in the August 4 primary, El-Sayed has repeatedly sidestepped questions regarding whether he intends to team up with Piker again before the general election.
“I’m not as focused on who I’m campaigning with. I’m focused on who I’m campaigning for,” he told MSNOW’s Jacob Soboroff on August 5, echoing a nearly identical response given to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Conclusion
Rogers publicly claimed that El-Sayed “believes America deserved 9/11.”
To substantiate this claim, Rogers relied on a seven-year-old remark made by an entirely different individual, rather than anything stated by El-Sayed.
This aggressive line of attack against El-Sayed, who is Muslim, draws upon longstanding tropes associating Muslims with terrorism and extremism.
While El-Sayed did campaign alongside Piker, he never endorsed Piker’s past 9/11 comments and explicitly affirmed on the same day that he views the terrorist attacks as entirely unjustified.
Ultimately, the claim is rated entirely false.