Democratic US Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has faced sharp online criticism after appearing to dodge reporters' questions about his relationship with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has campaigned alongside him in Michigan. When pressed on Piker's influence and asked whether he would condemn him, El-Sayed dismissed the questions, describing Piker only as "a social media person in California" or "a single streamer," and declined to engage further, prompting accusations that he was distancing himself from someone he had previously campaigned with extensively.

Piker, who has around 10 million social media followers, has become a contentious figure within the Democratic Party over past remarks, including a claim that "America deserved 9/11", and more recently over comments involving Jewish Michigan state senator Jeremy Moss. Piker has said publicly that El-Sayed invited him to join the campaign and asked him to "stump" for it, contradicting the impression El-Sayed's evasive answers created. Commentators and Republican-aligned figures seized on the exchange as evidence of panic, with one editor noting El-Sayed had gone from doing joint campaign stops with Piker to refusing to say his name. El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters, in a contest that could help decide control of the Senate.