Ilhan Omar joins 'polarizing and dangerous' streamer at campaign event despite Democratic backlash

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is set to share the stage with far-left streamer Hasan Piker on Monday night despite mounting opposition from fellow Minnesota Democrats, some of whom have publicly urged the congresswoman to cancel the appearance just eight days before the midterm elections.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., has called Piker's rhetoric "polarizing and dangerous" and said embracing him is "a mistake," while Sen. Amy Klobuchar's gubernatorial campaign called a number of his past statements "reckless and unacceptable." Other Democratic officials and party groups have gone further, calling on Omar and state Sen. Omar Fateh, who is hosting the sold-out Minneapolis event, to cancel the appearance.

The controversy is exposing a divide among Minnesota Democrats in the closing stretch of the midterms over whether Piker's enormous following among younger progressives outweighs the political liability of his past rhetoric. University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs told FOX 9 the event would "create a split within the DFL," arguing it could distract statewide Democrats from their closing message and put candidates in a difficult position with moderate and Jewish voters.

Piker, who commands millions of followers across social media, has faced backlash over remarks involving the Sept. 11 attacks, Hamas, Israel and Jewish people. He later apologized for saying in 2019 that "America deserved 9/11" and has rejected accusations of antisemitism.

Omar's campaign, however, has defended her decision to participate by pointing to Piker's appeal among the younger voters Democrats are trying to turn out ahead of Election Day.

"Early voting among people under 40 is down, and we need to do everything to get young people to the polls," Omar's campaign told FOX 9. "The Congresswoman knows the Democratic Party is a Big Tent party, and she's excited to join Senator Omar Fateh's event to mobilize young voters and...

Doesn’t matter when they start using her real name, this case is not going to be showy. She is done.

She’s appealing to her basest base. The Piker fans

The media won’t put this ugly story on display. Not even before midterms. Especially before midterms.

Sometime in the future, it will be a blip. Then they’ll use her real name that no one will notice.

The Democrats' "big tent" includes supporting terrorism.

Bernie Sanders himself said that his remarks supporting terrorism were "stupid", but that they need a "big tent" so he and his followers are still welcome in the movement.

Sanders on Objections to Piker Over 9/11 Comments: I Object to Taking AIPAC Money, I Choose Piker Over Carville
Host Abby Phillip asked, “[L]ast night, the popular but very controversial streamer, Hasan Piker, was at one of El-Sayed’s final events. The two did a stream together, a fairly lengthy stream. I know that you’ve spoken to Hasan Piker in the past, but are you comfortable with El-Sayed having a close association with him, given some of his past statements, to give you an example, one of the more controversial ones is that Piker has said America deserved 9/11. Are you comfortable with that association?” Sanders answered, “No, I am not. And I think that’s a dumb statement. On the other hand, he has a whole lot of followers, and there are a lot of things that he’s saying that are making sense to a lot of people. I think we have to get above cancel culture. When you’re doing radio, whatever they do, podcasts three hours a day, you say dumb things. I suspect if you go back over your career, there may be one or two things that you’ve said that you may have regretted. But I think what we have got to do is look at the totality of where people are coming from and go forward.” Phillip then asked, “So, when someone like James Carville says he doesn’t want to be in the same political party as Hasan Piker, which one are you going to take?” Sanders answered, “Well, that’s not much of a choice. If Mr. Carville doesn’t want to be in my party, the party that I belong to, that Piker, that El-Sayed belongs to, he can start his own party.

Today's Democratic Party: Terrorism supporters welcome, those who object need to get out of the party. They literally said it.

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