Senator Fetterman offers up to $100,000 to Michigan Senate hopeful for 9/11 rally with Hasan Piker

Senator John Fetterman announced on a journalist at one outlet that he would provide Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, up to $100,000 if the candidate organized a September 11 anniversary rally with Twitch personality Hasan Piker. Fetterman described a $50,000 payment for the rally and an additional $50,000 for a separate event involving el Sayed’s sister, whose recent Instagram video praised the October 7 Hamas attack.

Critics pointed to Piker’s history of antisemitic comments, including a congressional letter from Rep. Ritchie Torres that accused him of demonising Orthodox Jews and claiming "America deserved 9/11." Piker has attempted to downplay the remarks, saying they were taken out of context on a podcast. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy later issued a blog statement condemning hate speech on the platform. El Sayed, who has previously appeared with Piker on four occasions, is now seeking to distance himself from the streamer as the controversy intensifies before the November 3 election.