Democrat congressional candidate Adam Hamawy defended far-left streamer Hasan Piker’s “America deserved 9/11” comments in an interview posted Thursday, insisting the remark should be kept “in perspective.”
Hamawy is a retired Army surgeon and the Democrat nominee in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. He made the comments in a friendly online interview with Walter Masterson. Piker endorsed him and rallied for him before the June primary. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) backed him as well.
Asked about Piker’s 9/11 line, the New Jersey Democrat suggested the streamer deserved slack.
“I think we have to put it all in perspective. And I do believe he regrets saying that,” Hamawy said.
The candidate added that he backed Piker regardless.
“I still love the guy though,” Hamawy said.
Piker said, “America deserved 9/11, dude” during a 2019 livestream. He used the same stream to mock former Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). Crenshaw is a Navy SEAL who lost an eye in combat. Piker has also justified Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. He has called Orthodox Jews “inbred.”
Hamawy claimed he barely knew Piker before the campaign. He said his children flagged the streamer’s name and that he had not watched the broadcasts.
“I wasn’t following his Twitch stream,” Hamawy said.
Masterson opened the segment by declaring, “I love Hasan Piker.” He argued critics “blow it out of proportion.” He offered his own defense of the streamer. “If I had to ramble for eight hours, I don’t know what would come out of my mouth,” Masterson said. Hamawy agreed.
The remarks come as Hamawy heads into the November general election. He is under scrutiny over his past ties to Omar Abdel-Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh.” A jury convicted Abdel-Rahman of seditious conspiracy for a plot to bomb New York landmarks. Hamawy testified as a defense witness at his 1995 trial. Reporting has also connected him to a 1994 stint with a Bosnia-based nonprofit that authorities later shut down over ties to Al-Qaeda.
Hamawy’s campaign has said he “condemns that man’s violent rhetoric and actions, and all violence, hatred, and terrorism,” describing the coverage as “guilt-by-association attacks on Muslim and Arab candidates.”
He is not the first Democrat to defend Piker’s 9/11 remark. Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed argued this year that the comment needed to be viewed in “context.”
Piker said in 2019 that his comment was “inappropriate.”