By Dan Murphy
A controversy erupted after Effie Phillips-Staley, Democratic candidate for Congress in NY-17, appeared on Hasan Piker’s show, sparking debate among local Democratic leaders over the party’s approach to Israel amid the ongoing war with Iran.
On March 28, Phillips-Staley, a Tarrytown Board Trustee, was interviewed by Hasan Piker. The interview is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiNCF52w0EQ.
Hasan Piker, known as HasanAbi, is a Twitch streamer and left-wing commentator with a large young audience.
Piker has interviewed politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Ro Khanna; his 2020 stream with Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar is among Twitch’s most-watched.
He calls Israel an “apartheid state.” With 1.8 million YouTube subscribers, his interview with Phillips-Staley drew 72,000 views.
The interview immediately drew a response from Suzanne Berger, Chair of the Westchester Democratic Party, and the Chairs of the Putnam, Rockland, and Dutchess County Democratic Parties, who issued a lengthy statement condemning Piker and Phillips-Staley’s choice to participate in the show, arguing that their appearance undermined party principles.
“We, the Chairs of the Democratic Committees of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties, stand united in strong and unequivocal opposition to the normalization of antisemitic, racist, and misogynistic rhetoric.
“We must speak up now to express deep disappointment by the appearance this afternoon of NY-CD17 Democratic congressional candidate Effie Phillips-Staley on Hasan Piker’s Twitch stream. Her decision represents a dangerous and unacceptable step toward legitimizing rhetoric that has no place in this District, in mainstream Democratic politics, or in any serious political discourse.
“Hasan Piker has a well-documented history of making statements that are profoundly shocking, abhorrent, and offensive. These include explicit anti-American hatred, the invocation of classic antisemitic tropes, the dehumanization of Jews, the downplaying and minimization of horrific sexual violence against women, and other forms of bigotry. For those not familiar, here is a sample of the most egregious direct quotes and statements attributed to him from his widely viewed Twitch streams:
● “America deserved 9/11” (while arguing that the United States “totally brought it on itself” in the context of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans .¹
● “I don’t have any patriotism in my heart for America.”³
● Repeatedly referring to Jews as “inbred”.⁴
● “It doesn’t matter if f—ing rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”⁶
● Declaring that his “favorite flag is the Hezbollah flag.”⁸
● Referring to Jewish critics as “Zionist pigs.”
These are not isolated incidents. His comments have drawn condemnation from Democratic leaders and national Jewish Democratic groups.
● Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Chair of the New Democratic Coalition, stated on March 25–26, 2026: “Hasan Piker is an unapologetic antisemite. Democrats risk losing our credibility to condemn those on the right who traffic in bigotry, antisemitism, & hate when our own Members of Congress & candidates are celebrating or, worse yet, platforming those who espouse hate of any kind.”
● Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) stated through a spokesperson in March 2026 that he will not appear on Piker’s stream: “Mr. Piker’s terrible comments about Jewish people, 9/11, and other areas aren’t the kinds of conversations Cory participates in and he will not be joining him on his stream.”
● Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) sent a formal letter to Twitch and Amazon executives in October 2024 calling Piker an “antisemitic voice”.
The Democratic Party must draw a firm, unambiguous line. Allowing figures like Hasan Piker into mainstream Democratic spaces, especially through appearances with candidates, normalizes his bigotry, erodes our moral authority when we condemn hate from the right, and risks fracturing the broad, diverse coalition we need to win elections and flip NY-17 in November. Antisemitism, racism, and misogyny are not progressive values. They are antithetical to the inclusive and principled Democratic Party we have built.
We call on Effie Phillips-Staley to make clear that she rejects his vile rhetoric,” end of statement.
The Westchester Jewish Democrats also called on Phillips-Staley to “disavow and apologize for her appearance on Hassan Piker’s Twitch.
“The Westchester Jewish Democrats will not stand with any candidate who walks with antisemitism, bigotry, hate, and anti-American values. In the absence of a forceful apology from Ms. Phillips Staley, the Westchester Jewish Democrats cannot support her in this race, or any other, as we view her tolerance and legitimization of Mr. Piker as disqualifying for public service. We call on the Working Family Party to issue a similar statement in light of their endorsement of Phillips Staley.”
Phillips-Staley responded to the criticisms from the four Democratic Chairs.
Phillips-Staley countered party criticism by arguing that shunning platforms like Piker’s alienates crucial younger and disengaged voters, highlighting a central conflict over whether the party should engage with controversial figures to broaden its appeal or uphold strict boundaries on acceptable discourse.
While I don’t align with every word Hasan Piker has ever said, we must recognize the massive value of a platform that engages millions of young people in the democratic process.”
Unlike my opponents, Hasan Piker is not running for Congress; he is mobilizing a movement that demands our politics center on human rights and favor diplomacy over the reflexive use of military force.
As Democrats, our job is to build bridges, not burn them. We should be inviting young people into the process by building a coalition rooted in collective humanity. My mission is clear: I will always fight for universal human rights and Palestinian self-determination, and stand firmly against antisemitism. We win when we grow the movement—not when we cut people out of it.”
On Breaking Points (200,000 views), Phillips-Staley criticized the Democratic establishment for alienating young, disenfranchised voters and questioned party strategies regarding accusations of antisemitism and support for certain candidates.
For me, as a candidate, what I see are thousands and thousands of young people who mistrust the Democratic Party because they do not see the violence that the state of Israel is perpetrating, and that it is like the Vietnam of this generation.
And so it’s almost like there’s a generational difference in the reaction, right? For example, all of the young people on my team and all of the young people whom they talk to all follow Hassan; they all thought it was extraordinary that I was with Hassan.
So the effect has been thousands of new followers, so many comments, a major uptick in contributions, and people saying to me, what they often say to me, because I’ve been very transparent about my position on Israel and Palestine: keep going, don’t stop. As you say, the things people want to hear.
And what I hope in the end is that the party learns the lesson, right? It’s our job to listen to the public, hear what they’re saying, and represent the positions through a moral lens. And when I say a moral lens, that means we have to fight anti-semitism, which is on the rise. We have to fight Islamophobia, which is on the rise.
Congressman Mike Lawler said, “Effie Phillips-Staley standing shoulder to shoulder with an antisemite who praised the 9/11 attacks and glorified Hezbollah and Hamas is utterly disqualifying, and so is the refusal of Cait Conley, Beth Davidson, Peter Chatzky, and all of my Democratic opponents to loudly and publicly rebuke it as well,” said Congressman Mike Lawler.
Phillips-Staley has the endorsement of the Working Families Party and is running in the democratic primary in NY-17 in June.
