Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said far-left streamer Hasan Piker's 9/11 remarks were "dumb" on Sunday, but said the country was "so stuck" in cancel culture when confronted about his association with the internet personality.
NBC's Kristen Welker asked El-Sayed on "Meet the Press" if he would welcome Piker on the campaign trail, as he's already campaigned with him prior to winning the state's Senate primary over moderate Haley Stevens. Piker also attended El-Sayed's victory party and called for Democrats who oppose the Michigan Senate candidate to be "punished."
El-Sayed dodged and said he was more concerned about who he was campaigning for and beating Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
"When asked about Hasan Piker's comments on 9/11, Sen. Bernie Sanders called it a dumb statement. Do you agree? Do you disavow those comments that America deserved 9/11?" Welker pressed further.
"Of course it was a dumb statement and, of course, I think Hasan himself would say that was a dumb statement," El-Sayed told Welker. "He disavowed it. So yes, America didn’t deserve 9/11, but you know, to sit here and play gotcha politics with a dumb thing somebody said out of context that they disavowed themselves — to say, ‘Ah well, what does that mean about what you think?’"
"I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do, rather than this idea that we’re so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020, but we seem to want to bring back," he added.
Sanders called the comments "dumb" earlier this month in an interview on CNN, but said the Democratic Party should be inclusive of the far-left streamer.
The progressive Vermont senator also cited cancel culture.
"I think that's a dumb statement," Sanders said at the time. "On the other hand, he has a whole lot of followers and a lot of things that he's saying that are making sense to a lot of people. I think, you know, we have to get above cancel culture. You know, when you're doing radio, whatever they do, podcasts three hours a day, you say dumb things."
Psychotherapist and author of "Therapy Nation," Jonathan Alpert, told Fox News Digital that citing cancel culture seemed like a "dodge."
"El-Sayed clearly knows Hasan Piker’s 9/11 comments were a problem," Alpert said. "He called them dumb. Fair enough. But then he turns around and complains about cancel culture when people scrutinize the relationship. You can’t have it both ways. If the comments are bad enough that you feel the need to distance yourself from them, people are allowed to ask why the association was there in the first place."
"We’ve started calling almost any uncomfortable criticism ‘cancel culture,’" he added. "Sometimes criticism is unfair and sometimes people do get punished simply for holding an unpopular opinion. But getting tough questions about your judgment isn't the same thing."
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He also called El-Sayed's response a "psychological move," and said instead of discussing the criticism, he attacked the criticism and suggested it was unfair.
"Now you’re the victim and your critics are the problem," he said. "Politicians do this all the time."
