The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have leapt to controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker’s defense, blasting both Democrats and Republicans on Sunday for criticizing Piker and for introducing a resolution to condemn socialism on the House floor.
“The establishment: Ds, Rs + media, have pivoted from DSA wins to personal attacks, racist dog whistles, symbolic House resolutions, and an obsession with a Twitch streamer. What would happen if they devoted that same attention to the thousands of Americans who die each year because they can’t afford healthcare?” the DSA’s official X account wrote Sunday.
The account then followed up with a post calling Piker “*our Twitch streamer.”
HASAN PIKER IS BECOMING THE ‘FACE OF THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT,’ FORMER DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVE WARNS
Piker has become a prominent figure in the ongoing battle for the Democratic Party’s soul, as moderate and pro-Israel Democrats implore their political allies to distance themselves from the popular content creator.
While the DSA as an organization has now publicly backed the 35-year-old commentator, other Democrats have held him at arm’s length. Some Democrats have gone as far as publicly criticizing Piker’s rhetoric surrounding Jews.
DEMOCRATS CONDEMNING HASAN PIKER AS BACKLASH SPREADS THROUGH PARTY
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., whose increasingly public attacks on President Donald Trump have some speculating he’s gearing up for his own presidential run, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday through a spokesperson that he “unreservedly rejects reckless and dangerous rhetoric suggesting that policy advocacy invites violence against the Jewish community or any community.”
Ossoff’s comments came after Piker, during an Aug. 20 Twitch stream, said, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action… Not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”
Ossoff is not the only Democrat to publicly criticize Piker. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who, like Ossoff, is Jewish, said he doesn’t believe his party’s tent is big enough for both him and Piker.
“Well, I mean, we’re going to see if we can coexist with them. I mean, they can’t coexist with me,” Moskowitz told FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney, referring to both Piker and the DSA.
Moskowitz is one of four Democrats to introduce an amendment to a Republican resolution condemning socialism. The GOP resolution, which was advanced by the House Rules Committee on Monday, includes a provision calling for passage of the Trump-backed SAVE America Act. It’s expected to receive a floor vote this week.
The Democrats’ amendment — proposed by Moskowitz, Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. — would have retained language condemning socialism while removing election-related provisions, including the call for the passage of the SAVE America Act.
The amendment, which did not get a vote and will not be included in the resolution, denounced socialism as “incompatible with American values and the United States Constitution.”
It listed several of communism’s most notable historic failures, from Mao’s China to the Soviet Union, adding that “socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has, time and time again, collapsed into communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and repressive dictatorships.”
Fox News Digital contacted the DSA, Piker, Ossoff, Moskowitz, Gottheimer, Scholten and Suozzi for further comment.
