Hasan Piker, a popular far-left influencer, has long withstood scrutiny for his antisemitic commentary and justification of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, continuing to boast millions of loyal followers while hosting prominent Democratic elected officials on his Twitch show.

But his recent remarks unequivocally siding with Hamas provide particularly clarifying insight into Piker’s extreme worldview, raising questions about the permission structure in the broader progressive movement that tolerates such views with little to no pushback.

In a social media post last week, Piker came to the defense of anti-Israel protesters who had explicitly expressed support for Hamas while demonstrating outside a synagogue in Queens that was hosting an event promoting Israeli real estate investment.

“Hamas is a thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state and the real harm happening here is that another illegal stolen land sale is taking place at another synagogue!” he said on X, describing himself as “a lesser evil voter” who was simply repeating a “harm reductionist credo.”

While the protest drew belated criticism from progressive Israel critics such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), both of whom have appeared on Piker’s show, the streamer made clear he was not backing down.

In contrast with Ocasio-Cortez, who had accused the protesters of using “disgusting and antisemitic” language while targeting a “predominantly Jewish neighborhood,” Piker issued a defiant retort to his 1.6 million X followers. “‘Hamas is resisting against Israel because they’re antisemitic’ is the funniest lie people tell themselves,” he argued. “If Israel was a Christian nation managing the apartheid and ethnic cleansing they’d still fight. You’re just mad people are fighting back at all.”

“‘Can’t believe people are saying they support Hamas!’” Piker wrote in a separate post, feigning shock at the protesters’ chants. “Wait till you hear how you can openly support the IDF and Israel and still rub shoulders in polite society in spite of the livestreamed Holocaust we all witnessed,” he said. “We need to stop playing these games in 2026.”

Piker’s critics, however, often wonder how the controversial commentator has continued to thrive in the modern progressive movement in spite of his long record of antisemitic remarks. In addition to calling Orthodox Jews “inbred” and comparing Zionists to Nazis, Piker has forcefully denied some of Hamas’ atrocities, such as widespread reports of sexual violence, which he has dismissed as “rape fantasies” and “hallucinations.”

His new and unvarnished comments about Hamas helped lay bare his sympathetic views on the terror group — even as he has echoed such sentiments in previous remarks. “There’s no comparison between Israel and Hamas,” he said last May in one notable X post. “One is a militant resistance comprised of orphaned soldiers born into a 77 year occupation, the other is a ethnoreligious supremacist apartheid state w nukes doing a genocide backed by the USA!”

Though his views have stirred some controversy, Piker’s stature in progressive circles and beyond remains solid. He has drawn favorable profiles in mainstream media outlets that make little mention of his offensive statements. And he has received invitations to appear at such high-profile events as The New Yorker Festival and platforms including the “Pod Save America” podcast, hosted by a group of former Obama administration officials who have become influential voices on the left.

Meanwhile, Piker has attracted a range of leading progressive lawmakers to sit for interviews on his show — from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ed Markey (D-MA).

With the exception of Khanna, none of those lawmakers responded to requests for comment about Piker’s latest posts on Hamas, nor did the “Pod Save America” hosts, including Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor.

“I have called Hamas a terrorist organization and strongly believe they have no place in the future of Gaza or a Palestinian state,” Khanna said in a brief text message to Jewish Insider on Wednesday, but he did not directly address Piker’s comments when pressed.

Jeremiah Johnson, the co-founder of the Center for New Liberalism who has written critically on Piker’s radicalism and expressed concerns about his rising popularity in progressive politics, speculated that “a lot of Democrats boosting” the Twitch commentator “aren’t even aware of how extreme he is, because he lies constantly.”

“In interviews, podcast appearances or events he will play the ‘I’m just a guy who wants people to have healthcare’ card,” Johnson explained to JI on Wednesday. “If confronted he’ll downplay, deny or walk back extremist comments he’s made. And then he’ll go back to his own audience and keep praising Hamas or the Houthis or the CCP, or mocking Iranian protesters with racist voices.”

Johnson also pointed to an issue with what he termed “the Democratic staffer class, where the median Democratic staffer is so progressive they have a ‘no punching left’ rule — especially when someone like Hasan is attractive and has a large audience.”

As Piker’s ideology remains largely unchecked by progressive lawmakers and activists, other critics warn that the left’s acquiescence to his troubling views has already hurt its ability to meaningfully counter growing hostility to Jews and Israel from the far right.

“Hasan Piker is the Tucker Carlson of the progressive left, just dumber and better looking,” Jamie Kirchick, an author and commentator who frequently writes about Israel and Jewish issues, told JI. “As long as figures like Khanna, Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Markey pal around with him, they forfeit any credibility attacking the New Right’s vile antisemitism.”