Abdul El-Sayed Refuses to Renounce Hasan Piker on CNN

CNN gave El-Sayed the offramp. He drove right past it.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins gave Abdul El-Sayed a direct chance Wednesday night to distance himself from controversial left-wing streamer Hasan Piker after Sen. John Fetterman warned that Piker’s rhetoric could become a major problem for Democrats in November.

El-Sayed didn’t take it.

Collins first confronted El-Sayed with Fetterman’s warning about the company Democrats are willing to keep.

“I can’t come together with someone if you are willing to embrace people that love Hamas, or that think America deserved 9/11,” Fetterman said. “I think that’s reasonable.”

El-Sayed brushed him off.

“In Trump’s words, ‘What a lovely gentleman,’” he responded.

Collins then asked the question directly..

“I mean, he said that you need to renounce people like the Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who was out there campaigning with you, who was out there in Michigan on Monday night, I believe last night as well,” Collins said. “Do you have any plans to do that?”

El-Sayed declined.

“Look, I’m less focused on folks who are campaigning with me, more focused on the folks I’m campaigning to,” he said.

Then El-Sayed turned the attack back on Fetterman.

“I think that’s clearly what’s gone wrong with Senator Fetterman,” El-Sayed said. “It’s clear he probably doesn’t spend much time in Pennsylvania, because he was campaigning with Bernie Sanders and now wants to renounce Bernie Sanders.”

“I don’t know if he still thinks he’s a Democrat or not,” El-Sayed said. “I’m hoping to get to the U.S. Senate and maybe we can hash that conversation out in person.”

Watch the clip below:

Abdul El-Sayed doubles down on refusing to renounce Hasan Piker — who said “America deserved 9/11.”

CNN: Do you have any plans to renounce Hasan Piker?

EL-SAYED: “I’m less focused on folks who are campaigning with me and more focused on the folks I’m campaigning to.” pic.twitter.com/wzYiiSfpY6

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 6, 2026