“America deserved 9/11.”
The words of Hasan Piker, a commentator for the left-wing news organization The Young Turks, linked to the success of the Justice Democrats group of which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others have been a crucial part.
The Young Turks boasts over 4.4 million subscribers on YouTube and has hosted a myriad of leftist voices including Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Elizabeth Warren.
Piker’s live streamed his anti-American, terror-excusing diatribe: “America deserved 9/11 dude, fuck it, I’m saying it… Like we totally brought it upon ourselves dude, holy shit. We did, we fucking did… Look at the way that this dipshit is running his fucking mouth, justifying genocide right now.”
The “dipshit” in question was Rep Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a former U.S. Navy Seal and Bronze and Purple Heart medal winner.
Piker sought to rationalize his comments by discussing how the United States engages in massive arms and trade deals with Saudi Arabia.
He later attempted to row back while still refusing to apologize on Twitter:
americas foreign policy decisions has lead to 911. this would’ve been a controversial thing to say in 2001. stop being a fucking idiot.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) August 21, 2019
Twitch – the platform Piker uses to livestream – has not made any moves to suspend Piker’s account despite their policy that “harassing, threatening, abusive, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable” content is not permitted.
Young Turks founder, Cenk Uygur formed Justice Democrats, a political action committee (PAC) with the intention of unseating candidates “aligning with Wall Street over working men and women.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was the most notable candidate they helped propel to victory, though the group is also linked to Raúl Grijalva, Ro Khanna, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Pramila Jayapal.
Another founder of the Young Turks-linked Justice Democrats is Saikat Chakrabarti, the outgoing chief of staff for Ocasio-Cortez.
Hasan frequently appears on the The Young Turks’ panel discussions and debates and produces original content on other platforms. He has over 300,000 followers on Instagram and over 171,000 followers on Twitter.
A recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) discussing the role and strategies of the American military abroad prompted Piker’s incendiary remarks.
The “Young Turks” was also the name of the regime responsible for perpetrating the Armenian genocide which led to the death of over 1.5 million Armenians.
Turkish-born Uygur has repeatedly engaged in genocide denial regarding the subject, though he attempted to “rescind” his position in a blog post in 2016.
The Young Turks has a premium partnership with YouTube and Hulu.
