WASHINGTON — Mao-adoring Twitch streamer Hasan Piker erupted in fury after Wisconsin state rep. Francesca Hong’s shocking defeat in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, venting that boomers should be outlawed.
Hong, who was forced to walk back past statements in favor of abolishing police and canceling Thanksgiving Day in the run-up to primary night, led the Democratic field by double-digits in most polling before losing to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley by more than 3,000 votes.
Piker, who had stumped with Hong during the final weeks of her primary, blamed older Americans for her loss and struggled to talk about the blow to the far-left.
“I don’t want to read this because I will f—ing kill myself with a gun in a video game,” Piker griped after reading an article about a late-deciding voter who backed David Crowley but noted they liked Hong as well.
“I can’t. I’m in a good mood overall,” he went on. “I want to put boomers in the machine, in the contraption, and not just boomers, like anyone that says that.”
Piker is notorious for espousing radical rhetoric on his streams.
For example, in 2019, Piker claimed that “America deserved 9/11,” which he later, very begrudgingly, sort of suggested was an “inappropriate” remark. Later, he was spotted with a framed copy of a front-page newspaper story showing the Twin Towers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.
Piker also argued that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack was a “direct consequence” of Israeli actions, adding that if a terror group engaged in rape, it “doesn’t change the dynamic for me. At one point, he also gushed over the “brave mujahideen” who injured Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).
The prince of the far-left had done an interview with Hong, where she expressed support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), government-run grocery stores, a one-year data center moratorium, and more.
During her media tour before the primary election, Hong took heat for many of her past positions, such as calling to cancel Thanksgiving and wanting to abolish police — stances from which she had tried to downplay.
“The monkey hanged himself. I’m the monkey. And I’ve been staring too much of the median American voter for the last couple of months. I need a f—ing break, dude,” Piker reflected during his reaction to Hong’s loss.
When the results began trickling in Tuesday evening and Hong was underperforming expectations, Piker quipped, “Outlaw Thanksgiving and outlaw boomers.”
During the primary battle, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declined to throw their weight behind Hong as she faced a media firestorm.
In contrast, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota were forcefully backed by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez during their respective Senate primary races and defeated their centrist opponents.
However, neither El-Sayed, who defeated Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) last week, nor Flanagan, who topped Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) Tuesday night, had called for the cancellation of Thanksgiving.
More coverage on the primary election results:
Piker later appeared to suggest on X that he may have been a factor in Hong’s demise, agreeing that campaigning with him can be a political “death trap.”
“[T]his is part of why we came close to a victory but ultimately lost,” he posted on X. “[I] should never be the biggest surrogate of a campaign. [Rep. Mark P]ocan, or national progs wouldve alleviated some of the ‘electability’ concerns of hong which were overstated.”
It’s unclear if Piker’s mea culpa was sarcasm, given his history of trolling.
“‘[E]lectability’ in the primaries and ‘harm reduction’ in the general still carry lots of boomers when its paired w/ a barrage of negative earned media + no defensive tv ads + no national prog endorsements,” Piker further reflected.
