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The Hassan Piker Crisis Democrats Can't Escape · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

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  Speaker 1: And as part of the Great Big Beautiful Bill, we
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  Speaker 1: have massively expanded 529 education saving accounts tremendously, doubling the
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  Speaker 1: annual withdrawal cap from K-12 expenses to $ 20, 000 a year
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  Speaker 1: and allowing families to save the education and money for
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  Speaker 1: education at the private or religious school of your choice
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  Speaker 1: so that's something that never happened before nobody could even
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  Speaker 1: think about doing it they can't believe it's happened now
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  Speaker 1: and now for the first time ever families can also
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  Speaker 1: have their 529 accounts to support homeschool.
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  Speaker 2: Education You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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  Speaker 3: Good Wednesday morning. It is nice to have you with
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  Speaker 3: us on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got one
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  Speaker 3: big story for you. Hassan Piker's latest comments are sparking
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  Speaker 3: a political firestorm. This time saying that if you are Jewish,
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  Speaker 3: you should be quiet and you certainly shouldn't associate yourself with...
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  Speaker 3: with israel and if you do you're to blame for
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  Speaker 3: anti-semitism and eventually in america well someone's going to come
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  Speaker 3: after you now democrats are being forced to walk away
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  Speaker 3: from hassan piker a little bit we explain exactly what
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  Speaker 3: all he said it is the 47 morning update and
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  Speaker 3: it starts right.
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  Speaker 2: Now Story number one.
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  Speaker 3: Yet again, there's another political controversy that is exploding right
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  Speaker 3: now around Hassan Piker. Now, Hassan Piker is one of
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  Speaker 3: the most influential left wing streamers online in America. He
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  Speaker 3: has now made yet again another offensive comment about American Jews.
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  Speaker 3: And now it is forcing Democrats to condemn exactly what
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  Speaker 3: he has said. They're now having to admit that, OK,
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  Speaker 3: maybe he actually is, well, anti-Semitic. And this story matters
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  Speaker 3: for a reason beyond one Internet personality saying something outrageous.
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  Speaker 3: That happens all the time. Hassan Piker has millions of followers.
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  Speaker 3: He has become a extremely influential voice among young progressives
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  Speaker 3: and Democratic politicians have appeared with him. courted his audience and,
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  Speaker 3: in some cases, campaigned alongside him. Now, finally, some Democrats
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  Speaker 3: are scrambling to put distance between themselves and Piker after
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  Speaker 3: his latest comments during a live stream last week. And
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  Speaker 3: that has now gone viral. Piker was discussing American Jews,
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  Speaker 3: Israel and anti-Semitism when he warned that if Jews in
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  Speaker 3: America continue presenting themselves as heavily invested in Israel, quote, Eventually,
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  Speaker 3: someone's going to come around and take action, quote unquote.
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  Speaker 3: Not against Israel, he said, but against American Jews. He
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  Speaker 3: went on to argue that Jews who tie their identity
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  Speaker 3: to Israel are making anti-Semitism worse. So in other words,
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  Speaker 3: if you're Jewish, shut up about it. And if you don't,
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  Speaker 3: someone's going to take you out. And if you like
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  Speaker 3: Israel and you're Jewish, then you're just making anti-Semitism worse.
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  Speaker 3: So therefore, it's your fault that you like Israel and
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  Speaker 3: you shouldn't do that. All of the implications of this
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  Speaker 3: argument are massively anti-Semitic, and even worse than that, they're
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  Speaker 3: calling for violence against anyone that is Jewish in America.
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  Speaker 3: You already have a massive problem with anti-Semitism and threats
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  Speaker 3: against Jewish institutions. They become an enormous concern. And so
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  Speaker 3: now Piker's like, hey, let's double down on that, right?
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  Speaker 3: Let's actually point at the Jews and say they're the
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  Speaker 3: ones responsible. Instead of being the victims, we're going to
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  Speaker 3: say it's your fault that this has happened to you. Now, Piker,
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  Speaker 3: of course, is disputing these interpretations as so many are angry.
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  Speaker 3: He says he wasn't, quote, advocating for violence. He says
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  Speaker 3: he was warning Jews about what he believes could happen
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  Speaker 3: because of political identification with Israel. He has called the
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  Speaker 3: outrage over his comments, quote unquote, a smear. Again, that's
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  Speaker 3: coming from APNews.com. But prominent Democrats are not buying that
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  Speaker 3: defense because they know it is absurd, ludicrous, and you
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  Speaker 3: can't defend this. The House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has
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  Speaker 3: been forced to issue a statement. The malicious claims that
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  Speaker 3: American Jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and anti-Semitic.
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  Speaker 3: Jeffries added that there is zero justification for threats against
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  Speaker 3: Jewish Americans. Scholten of Michigan went even further, saying she
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  Speaker 3: condemned Piker's talks of violence against American Jews, particularly because
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  Speaker 3: his live stream displayed a photograph of the Michigan State
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  Speaker 3: Senator Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish. She also called the
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  Speaker 3: rhetoric unacceptable and said it had no place in Michigan
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  Speaker 3: or even in America. And Moss himself also fired back,
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  Speaker 3: saying he wasn't going to be lectured by Hassan Piker,
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  Speaker 3: about what Michigan's Jewish community should believe in what Jews,
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  Speaker 3: and that Jews would not be gaslit, quote unquote, into
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  Speaker 3: believing they are responsible for anti-Semitic harm directed at them.
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  Speaker 3: But now comes the political problem. Now, before we get
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  Speaker 3: to that, we're talking literally right now about anti-Semitism, and
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  Speaker 3: it is continuing to rise around the world every day.
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  Speaker 3: And the Jewish people continue to pay the price, from
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  Speaker 3: growing threats against Jewish communities to acts of violence, harassment,
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  Speaker 3: and intimidation. Many Jewish families are living with fear simply
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  Speaker 3: because they are Jewish. Synagogues, schools, and community centers continue
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  Speaker 3: strengthening security as hatred spreads far beyond the headlines. And
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  Speaker 3: that's why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is
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  Speaker 3: working every day in Israel and around the world, providing security,
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  Speaker 3: emergency assistance, food, and critical care for vulnerable Jewish communities.
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  Speaker 3: For more than 40 years, the fellowship has stood alongside
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  Speaker 3: the Jewish people, delivering practical support when it is needed
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  Speaker 3: the most. Hatred, it continues to spread, but compassion and
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  Speaker 3: action can make a world of difference. So I want
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  Speaker 3: you to join us. The International Fellowship of Christians and
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  Speaker 3: Jews and me in doing one simple thing, praying for
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  Speaker 3: the safety of the Jewish people, for peace in Israel,
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  Speaker 3: and for an end to anti-Semitism. Together, we can remind
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  Speaker 3: God's people that they are not alone. If you want
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  Speaker 3: to know what to pray for, you can stand with
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  Speaker 3: Israel in prayer today by visiting PrayIFCJ.org. That is PrayIFCJ.org.
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  Speaker 3: All right, now let's get back to this political problem
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  Speaker 3: for Democrats. The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate nominee, you know
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  Speaker 3: him as El Saeed. He has appeared with Piker over
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  Speaker 3: and over and over again. They're basically best friends. He
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  Speaker 3: uses Piker's online audience to reach young progressive voters. El
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  Speaker 3: Saeed is now having to distance himself for the very
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  Speaker 3: first time from a guy that said that America basically
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  Speaker 3: deserved 9-11. Now, Al-Said said this. Nobody speaks for him
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  Speaker 3: and emphasized his opposition to, quote, anti-Semitism. His Republican opponent,
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  Speaker 3: by the way, former Congressman Mike Rogers, says that's nowhere
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  Speaker 3: near enough. And he's demanding a much clearer break with
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  Speaker 3: Hassan Piker. Even Democratic strategists are warning that Piker could
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  Speaker 3: become a serious general election liability. The Washington Post writing
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  Speaker 3: that this morning. And here's why this controversy isn't occurring
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  Speaker 3: in a vacuum. As I mentioned, Hassan Piker has a
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  Speaker 3: remarkable history of inflammatory statements. Perhaps the most infamous came
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  Speaker 3: in 2019 when he was talking about American foreign policy
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  Speaker 3: in September 11th and Piker said America deserved 9-11. Now,
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  Speaker 3: he went further at the time saying America had, quote,
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  Speaker 3: brought it on ourselves. Sounds an awful lot like what
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  Speaker 3: he's saying now about anti-Semitism and saying, well, the Jews
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  Speaker 3: are bringing it on themselves, right? What's interesting now is
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  Speaker 3: even Joel Rubin, Bernie's 2020 campaign staffer, said this on
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  Speaker 3: TV about the controversy.
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  Speaker 4: And that's where Hassan Piker needs to go in the
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  Speaker 4: Democratic Party. We need to shame this man, get him
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  Speaker 4: out of our party, get him out of campaigning with candidates,
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  Speaker 4: and make sure that the American people understand that we
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  Speaker 4: have no tolerance for this kind of language.
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  Speaker 5: So, Joel, does it concern you when you see some
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  Speaker 5: of your leadership within the party or party elders say,
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  Speaker 5: This is all a big tent. You know, I look
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  Speaker 5: at there's some on the right. There's some on the
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  Speaker 5: right that want to be a part of the right.
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  Speaker 5: But I don't want to be a part of their tent.
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  Speaker 5: I won't vote for them. I won't campaign with them.
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  Speaker 5: I won't appear on stage with them.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Lawrence, I don't want to be in the tent
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  Speaker 4: with the guys trying to kill me. You know, I
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  Speaker 4: am just not interested in that. And there are many
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  Speaker 4: very strongly pro-peace, pro-Palestinian people who belong in that tent.
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  Speaker 3: Now, this is not going to end the controversy, even
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  Speaker 3: if they get rid of him, because there's still too
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  Speaker 3: many Democrats that have stood right beside Piker and have
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  Speaker 3: made it clear they like him. He has also said,
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  Speaker 3: referring to Piker, that he would choose Hamas, a terrorist organization,
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  Speaker 3: over Israel every single time. He's also described Hamas as a, quote,
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  Speaker 3: thousand times better than Israel. Now, remember what Hamas did
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  Speaker 3: on October the 7th. Americans were murdered. Israelis were murdered.
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  Speaker 3: They were slaughtered. Civilians were not only kidnapped, they were
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  Speaker 3: taken hostage and they were brutally beaten, killed and raped.
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  Speaker 3: And yet you have a top Democratic influencer who has
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  Speaker 3: publicly compared Hamas favorably with Israel, who Democrats are still
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  Speaker 3: willing to defend and stand next to. It is a
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  Speaker 3: massive problem. He also not only generate outrage over his
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  Speaker 3: treatment of the atrocities of October the 7th, But CNN
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  Speaker 3: even aired a clip. in which Piker argued that whether
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  Speaker 3: rapes occurred on October 7th did not change his broader
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  Speaker 3: political analysis, adding that the Palestinian resistance is not perfect.
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  Speaker 3: Mike Rogers, who's running for that Senate campaign as a Republican,
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  Speaker 3: had this to say last night at an event.
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  Speaker 5: Al-Said wants to represent Palestine.
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  Speaker 1: I want to represent Michigan.
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  Speaker 3: Al-Said wants to represent Palestine. I want to represent Michigan.
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  Speaker 3: That is the difference in this race. And if you
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  Speaker 3: put all of this together, America deserves 9-11. That coming
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  Speaker 3: from the Democrats. Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel.
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  Speaker 3: That again, coming from the Democrats. Derogatory rhetoric about Orthodox Jews. Again,
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  Speaker 3: coming from the Democrats. And now telling American Jews that
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  Speaker 3: identifying themselves too closely with Israel is making anti-Semitism worse.
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  Speaker 3: That's the definition of victim shaming. and warning that eventually
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  Speaker 3: someone could take action, meaning kill you, against American Jews.
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  Speaker 3: That is the Democratic Party. The record explains why this
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  Speaker 3: latest controversy, well, isn't that big of a deal compared
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  Speaker 3: to the other ones. This is par for the course,
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  Speaker 3: but it now is a Democratic Party problem because Piker
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  Speaker 3: isn't some anonymous person with 200 followers yelling into the Internet.
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  Speaker 3: He's been treated as a legitimate political influencer. Some would
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  Speaker 3: even argue a kingmaker of the Democratic Party. Politicians understand
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  Speaker 3: exactly what he offers them. Millions of young viewers who
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  Speaker 3: are often difficult to reach through traditional television, radio or
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  Speaker 3: newspaper ads. And what creates a very uncomfortable question for
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  Speaker 3: Democratic politicians who have embraced his platform. Where exactly is
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  Speaker 3: the line? If a conservative media personality said American Jews
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  Speaker 3: were making anti-Semitism worse and warned that somebody might eventually
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  Speaker 3: take action against them, Democrats would almost certainly demand that
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  Speaker 3: Republican candidate disassociate themselves from the party. So why is
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  Speaker 3: it that Democratic politicians are looking the other way? It's
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  Speaker 3: because they benefited from this type of radical rhetoric. They
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  Speaker 3: have benefited from Piker's audience, and they are willing to
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  Speaker 3: overlook this if it means they keep their power. To
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  Speaker 3: be clear, Jeffries didn't simply say he disagreed with Piker.
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  Speaker 3: He called the underlying idea dangerous and anti-Semitic. He had
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  Speaker 3: no choice if he wanted to keep his donors, and
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  Speaker 3: many of them are Jewish. But this controversy, it is
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  Speaker 3: going to move forward into the midterm elections. As Joel
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  Speaker 3: Rubin said, Al-Said's buddy, Hassan Piker, we need to shame
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  Speaker 3: this man, get him out of our party, get him
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  Speaker 3: out of campaigning with candidates. I don't think that's going
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  Speaker 3: to happen. I think there's far too many radicals on
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  Speaker 3: the left that love Piker and want him to stay
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  Speaker 3: exactly where he is.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with
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  Speaker 2: Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're
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