USA · updated 2h ago · 2 min read
Hasan Piker Says U.S. Conducts More Terrorism Than Al-Qaeda, Citing Minab School Strike
United States conducts more terrorism than Al-Qaeda, 'pound for pound,' Piker claimed. The claim came during Axios Show interview, triggering backlash across parties.
Whether Piker's claim is analysis or anti-American hate.
8 of 12 outlets skipped it: piker cites a Minab, Iran school strike as an example.
12outlets compared
Same story, two versions
tap a side to read it in full
The Hill
““Comparing America to al-Qaeda wasn’t an accident — Piker has built a brand on anti-American hate,” Rep.”Read the original ↗
Zeteo defends Piker as objectively true, while The Hill spotlights allegations that he built a brand on anti-American hate.
Piker’s “pound for pound” claim
Hasan Piker told Axios that the United States conducts more terrorism than al-Qaeda “pound for pound” as far as “the number of deaths,” saying, “We have caused tremendous terror all around the world.” Piker pointed to a strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, and he said, “If you’re killing 140 schoolgirls, that is an act of terror.”
““Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes,” Piker responded.”
The Trump administration has not released findings from a Pentagon investigation into the Minab school strike, and the exact death toll is not known. Axios’s Alex Thompson asked Piker whether the United States is worse than al-Qaeda, and Piker answered, “Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes.”
El-Sayed rejects the comparison
Abdul El-Sayed rejected Piker’s comparison in a statement to Axios, saying, “I do not agree with this statement [on al-Qaeda], nor do I give much weight to the statements made by a social media streamer.” El-Sayed said he was “more concerned with the dangerous policies of Donald Trump and Mike Rogers that are raising the prices of gas, groceries and healthcare for Michiganders,” as the controversy became a line of attack in Michigan’s Senate race.
Mike Rogers issued a statement calling on El-Sayed to “condemn Piker once and for all,” and the New York Times described the moment as part of the challenge Piker posed for El-Sayed in the race. Piker also told Axios that he was conducting analysis aimed at preventing further violence, saying, “This is more so analysis to stop further violence from taking place, both violence in the region, but also violence in the home front as well.”
Backlash and the political stakes
Republican-affiliated groups spent nearly $3 million in ads attacking El-Sayed over his connections with Piker, and many of the ads featured Piker’s 2019 remark that “America deserved 9/11.” Piker apologized for the 2019 remark and said the 9/11 attacks were “blowback” from U.S. involvement in the Middle East in previous decades, while El-Sayed said he talked to Piker because of “the 3 million people who pay attention to what he has to say.”
“Piker also stated that although he didn't want any country to have nuclear weapons, he did think the Middle East would be "more stable" if Iran had nuclear arms.”
The New York Times reported that some Democrats pressured El-Sayed to disavow Piker more fully, while the paper said Rogers used Piker’s commentary to cast El-Sayed as outside the mainstream and “even un-American.” In the same Axios interview, Piker also said he did not want any country to have nuclear weapons, while he added that the Middle East would be “more stable” if Iran had nuclear arms.