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Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., demanded reporters stop asking her about Twitch streamer Hasan Piker while campaigning for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday.
During a student town hall with El-Sayed and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Dingell opened her speech by calling out the focus on Piker during the Senate race.
“I am done, so don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker,” Dingell said. “It’s not what November is about. Republicans are trying to make it. They’re trying to divide us, and we got to stop letting them try to divide us. I don’t agree with Hasan Piker on a lot of stuff, and I really don’t agree with him on some of the woman things he said. And I’m still trying to figure out, is it the reason he exercises and looks buff is why he has so many followers.”
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Dingell reiterated her criticism of Piker while appearing on CNN’s “Situation Room” that same day.
“Look, I’m going to say this to you: I’m tired of people trying to drag me into it. I strongly disagree with many of the things that Hasan Piker has said, from Israel to, quite frankly, if you’re a woman who has fought against sexual violence and domestic violence her whole life, what he has said about rape, etc., is simply inexcusable,” Dingell said. “I don’t understand some of the followers and why they follow people. And I got in trouble when I said, maybe it’s generational, he works out and they say he looks buff. What he has said is just wrong.”
She continued, “I think that — what I know that this election’s about in November is being able to reverse the healthcare cuts that we’ve had in this country, the millions of Americans who don’t have healthcare right now, the kids that are already going hungry, and the seniors, because we’ve cut the SNAP program. And we have to elect somebody that is not going to be a rubber stamp to the Trump policies we have seen the last two years. I think it’s incumbent upon Abdul to make it very clear to people that he doesn’t agree with things that Hasan Piker says. I pray we’re not going to see him in Michigan from now until the election.”
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In a comment to Fox News Digital, Dingell spokesperson Matt Krack repeated that Dingell is finished answering questions about Piker.
“Congresswoman Dingell made clear this afternoon she will not answer any more questions about him. She doesn’t agree with him on many things, but this election isn’t about him. It’s about healthcare, affordability, hunger, and other issues that impact working men and women,” Krack said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Piker for comment.
Dingell’s comments come after several Democratic politicians began condemning the far-left Twitch streamer, who faced further controversy saying American Jews could become targets of violence if they continue to be perceived as singularly invested in Israel.
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Among them were Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; and Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.; Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Brad Schneider, D-Ill.; Greg Stanton, D-Ariz.; and Hillary Scholten, D-Mich.
El-Sayed, who previously campaigned with Piker, also appeared to distance himself from the Twitch streamer in a statement he released on Monday.
“[W]hile politicians and pundits try to make this race about a Twitch streamer, we’re going to be talking about gas, groceries, good schools, and healthcare. Because that’s what Michiganders keep asking about,” El-Sayed said.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for fellow Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Republican, said, “When Democrats like Debbie Dingell start running away from Abdul El-Sayed and his pals, you know their agenda is radioactive in Michigan.”
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